Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada criticized the Xbox Series S for increasing the adaptation burden for console games, while CDPR's Associate Game Director Paweł Sasko argued that optimizations for lower-spec devices can also benefit other platforms. The two offered different perspectives on the same hardware limitations during a developer discussion held in Seoul.
The discussion was hosted by Shuhei Yoshida, former head of Sony's independent games division. When discussing the pros and cons of consoles compared to PCs, Katsuhiro Harada noted that the Series S has less memory and its performance is awkwardly lower than that of the Series X. After completing high-spec versions, developers must invest additional work to support the weaker device within the same family.
Katsuhiro Harada stated that markets like the US have a large user base for the Series S, so development teams cannot simply reduce their investment; however, if graphics or on-screen character counts are scaled back, player dissatisfaction often ends up directed at the developers.
Paweł Sasko acknowledged that the Series S continues to pose challenges for development teams, forcing them to optimize their code more thoroughly. However, he believes that optimization breakthroughs achieved for lower-spec platforms can benefit the PS5, high-end PCs, Steam Deck, and ROG Ally. Version 2.5 of Cyberpunk 2077 incorporated some of the results from the team's year-long preparations for the Switch 2 version.
Sasko also stated that the lower price of the Series S can expand the audience, allowing more people to access games. In his view, while the device brings adaptation costs, it may also drive cross-platform optimization and broaden market coverage.