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Dune: Awakening, the latest title in this franchise from developer Funcom, has left most fans of the series cautiously optimistic with its last showcase at Gamescom. Despite its similarities toConan Exiles, most look forward to giving the game a fair shot.
Not so much for Xbox fans, it seems, as the team has run into the same problem that most other developers in the industry struggle with: optimizing the game for Series S. Could this spell another nightmare in the making for Phil Spencer and the people on the green hill?
Dune: Awakening’sDeveloper Funcom Also Admits Xbox Series S Is Difficult to Work With
Xbox Series S has been a thorn in the developer’s side since day 1, and now, Funcom is the latest addition to this growing list of people sending a collective groan the console’s way.
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After its recent showcase, many expressed their concerns that, while the upcomingDunetitle looks visually stunning,the performance can still be improved.
Keeping that in mind, when Chief Product Officer Scott Junior admits to the challenges of porting the game to Series S, it doesn’t paint an excellent picture, now does it?
So, it’s one of the reasons we’re coming out on PC first. There’s a lot of optimizations we need to do before we release on the Xbox. But yeah, Xbox Series S is a challenge.
Fascinatingly, this comes right after Game Science made the headlines by sharing their own difficulty with portingBlack Myth: Wukongto Team Green’s console, even though some leakers and even Microsoft would say otherwise.
Likewise, we can even trace this back to whenBaldur’s Gate 3’sLarian Studios struggled to get split-screen co-op to run smoothly on the Series S, which delayed the game’s launch on Xbox by nearly half a year.
But here’s the thing—as many technical wizards in the industry admit, the issue doesn’t necessarily lie in the power of Series S itself—the primary issue goes a little deeper than that, and it’s not the developers simply being too lazy.
Optimizing Games LikeDune: Awakeningfor Xbox Series S Just Takes Too Much Time
Now, when put against the humongous capabilities of both the Series X and the PS5, yes, Series S is severely underpowered, lacking some of the hardware advantages of its senior consoles.
That said, the lower specs pose a problem for developers, as they force them to spend an extra development period optimizing performance just for this one console.
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This, in turn, drives up the costs and severely messes up the production timelines, all while bearing the risk of whether the extra will be worth it in the end. Many are still willing to take this riskwith their technically stunning titles, but whether that stays true for long is unclear.
With the industry focused on developing even more technologically advanced games that can fully utilize the latest hardware, the Series S risks being left behind as a bottleneck unless Microsoft offers a mid-generation refresh or some other solution to make development more viable.
With all that said, what are your thoughts on Series S’s hardware? Do you think developers are simply being lazy, or are games really that hard to optimize for this console? Let us know in the comments below.
Akshit Dangi
Writer - Gaming
Articles Published :266
Akshit is a supposed human being and gaming writer who lurks in different corners of the internet in search of fascinating rabbit holes. Outside of that, though, you’ll most likely find him staring at a piece of art for days or completing another playthrough of Silent Hill.
