Xbox fans debate whether Microsoft should drop the Xbox Series S 'feature parity' clause

The Xbox Series S is struggling to keep up with some features which has led to the delay of a very high-profile game.

[Jin_Sakai]

Debate? It definitely should be dropped. It shouldn’t have existed in the first place. As a matter of fact Series S shouldn’t exist. It should’ve been Series X Digital Edition and Series X with disk drive like Sony did with PS5.

[darthv72]

My understanding of the clause is the core game needs to be playable on both. When it comes to other things like having quality / performance modes, raytracing and such it was up to the developer to decide. Split screen, unless it is the key element (like it takes two), should be treated the same as the other things i mentioned. If they can make it work on S great, but no reason to delay things if they cant. The game will adjust to the system it is being played on. If an S user installs it, split screen is not an option. If they then play it on the X, it will be.

[VenomUK]

I once had an interaction with Jez Corden on Twitter, he was rude, arrogant and obnoxious for no good reason other than disagreeing with me. Not a mature man, a fanboy in a job. So it does give me some delight to see how much the issue of the unofficial PS5 exclusive pains him!

On the issue, whilst it may seem the easy thing for Microsoft to do is allow the Baldur’s Gate 3 release on Xbox Series X - it must not or face dire consequences. Because when it first marketed the Series S it promised it would be the same as the Series X save for resolution differences. If MS does allow the release on Series X and not the S it becomes an official acknowledgement that the Series S is not powerful enough to run new gen games the same as the PS5 - it will mean Microsoft broke its promise to Xbox Series S owners. Sales may slowly decline in reaction as word spreads to the casuals. But the real issue will be come the PS6 generation, if Microsoft does choose to release two SKUs of Xbox, full power and low budget, many will not trust any claims Microsoft makes that the low budget will always be supported and avoid the model or even the platform entirely.

How many people will be playing coop in this turn based RPG? I don’t think that many. If it was me I’d release it in on Series X fully featured and Series S without co op.

[darthv72]

@venom... the game can release on both. Just lock the split screen to the X. Even the steam deck doesnt have split screen but it still plays the game. And its specs (except for memory) is lower than the S.

@frosty, is split screen a 'core' feature?

[fr0sty]

The problem still exists that features must be cut from the core game if it cannot be supported on S, and that affects both SX and PS5 games.

[jwillj2k4]

Don’t worry, you’ll get an update on their progress sometime next year Lmfao

[Rhythmattic]

"My understanding of the clause is the core game needs to be playable on both"
And all those PC's out there? Xbox Fans are totally missing the point....
Xbox is NOT a console either.... The "S" is... right ?
Mwhahahahahahahhahaa.

[dumahim]

"is split screen a 'core' feature?"

It is for Larian. In theory, they could just say no splitscreen for either Xbox and just sneak it in later if they wanted, but they're dedicated to making it work for launch.

[randomvoice]

@Venom not only is it a PR nightmare for MS but it also can open them up to lawsuits since they marketed the thing as having feature parity as far as games are concerned when they launched the XSS. I think that is the main reason they are sticking firm because they've boxed themselves into a corner.

Even MS knows that hardly anyone plans to play the co-op on the XSS. But they're probably afraid of the can of worms it opens up when it comes to litigation.

[Sonic1881]

It's too late for it to be dropped

[EvertonFC]

Exactly approx 70% of Xbox consoles sales are series S

[Rhythmattic]

"Exactly approx 70% of Xbox consoles sales are series S"
But a console can no longer be called an Xbox .. Just Sayin'

[Asplundh]

They could stop forcing developers to develop for the S and allow people the option to trade in S's for X's, wouldn't be the first time MS spent a ton of money to fix a systems problems(RROD).

[blackblades]

It doesn't matter what the fans want. MS advertise it as is they cant just drop it with a lot of people owning it and expecting to playing future games. What are those people thats the s gonna do when they can't play any of the games going foward they would probably sue or something.

[I_am_Batman]

I agree. If anything Microsoft is trying to avoid a class-action lawsuit. I bet their lawyers are checking their options and go over every piece of marketing material for the Series S as we speak.

Quite a strange situation they've put themselves in for no reason. The fact that the Series S CPU is basically equal to the Series X tells me they tried to avoid this very scenario, but then they screwed themselves with the memory and to a lesser extent the generally weak GPU.

[S2Killinit]

What about all the people that bought S?!? They are screwed then? MS cant just drop people after selling them a console as a current gen console. That would be unprecedented. Probably illegal.

[Z501]

70% S
30% X

Not happening

[Magog]

In the article he claims series s has a smaller install base so that's why it isn't "prioritized" by developers but all the info I have seen is that series S is the lion's share of Xbox sales. They can't drop it. They would be alienating the majority of Xbox owners.

[MrBaskerville]

Now they have to honor it, they promised their customers parity. If they break that promise they screw over every customer who bought a Seried X, I doubt they'd ever do that.

Maybe if they make pro, then they are free of their promises. Though they will have to make two versions of every game. Doubt they'd ever skip a release in S.

[Godmars290]

If the Series S is their better selling, more available system, even if its just a significant minority of their user base, then MS's stuck with how things are. How they've set things up.

Either they keep with it, get their "stream to anything" plans up and running within a reasonable time, or just build for Series X, stop making Series S, make a Slim-X they call Series-S confusing people to no end, abandon that original base, and never recover from yet another boondoggle everyone not an Xbox stand saw coming.

[Fonsecap]

I don't fully agree that Series S shouldn't exist, it is a good system for Gamepass subscribers and casual gamers, now what should't exist is the parity clause and MS has to understand that such clause doesn't make much sense because, in cross gen titles the Series S handles them pretty well but with true current gen titles the series S struggles a lot and when the first batch of games, developed in UE5 start to come out, I think it's going to get worst, so MS has to understand that if they want games to release for that platform they have to be opened to cut features. IDK but will the next Forza game have split screen for both consoles, if so, at what cost?

[CrimsonWing69]

I mean, here's the situation: Baldur's Gate co-op works on Xbox Series X, it DOES NOT work on Xbox Series S. Because of this stupid parity bulls*t the users of an Xbox Series X are going to miss out on a game that works as intended on their machine, but doesn't on some lower spec machine that requires all games to work on both machines or they don't get released at all.

Now, you tell me, what debate is there to NOT drop the parity clause?

Everyone can argue the Series S doesn't hold games back for this gen, but what in the ever-loving hell is the hold up with the Series S and this game then? This is clearly holding a game back from being released on the higher end Xbox that absolutely runs it as is. How is the S not responsible for this?

I'll put it this way, if The S didn't exist, this absolutely would not be an issue.

[shinoff2183]

I feel at some point ms has to make an exception for parity. I've said before ms should send a team over there to help , with forgetting ms studios have had the same issues.

[darthv72]

I thought they did.... At least that is what Larian eluded to in one of their posts.

@jz, makes you wonder who is really wanting this 'feature'... MS or Larian? They can just as easily make it so the SS doesnt have split screen but that feature is there for the SX. MS prob wouldnt care so long as the base game is the same and split screen isnt really a key factor unless it is Larian who thinks it needs to be.

[jznrpg]

They did send a team to help already. It won’t make the S any more powerful. If they can get it to work it’s still going to take time. They already said it won’t come out until 2024.

Devs needing 6-12 months or more to get a game to work on the most bought Xbox the Series S is going to make them think is it worth it at all? That’s a lot of money to spend for an ecosystem not known for buying games.

[wiz7191]

@JZNRPG I was with you up until you said Xbox players don’t buy games ..

[Obscure_Observer]

"Now, you tell me, what debate is there to NOT drop the parity clause?"

It should be obvious. How do you think Xbox Series S owners are going to react knowing that some future games may not be available for their console, while the said games will be available on SX?

If anything, I hope for MS to never attempt something like that with their future Xbox consoles ever again.

[The Wood]

leave the casuals behind. The x owners paid a premium to play the best. They're getting shafted. Major c@ck up by MS trying to be to complicated and slick and now they've backed themselves into a corner due to the fact the series s has outsold the series x. MS aint tryna piss off their majority fanbase. As major Kusanagi said '' overspecialize and you breed in weakness''

[EvertonFC]

If MS are not careful Devs and pubs will just not make an Xbox version full stop, they'll look at data and see most Xbox gamers just pay for GP and don't buy games anymore hardly.

[Tedakin]

Exactly. Why are Series X gamers missing out on this for a while due to splitscreen on a Series S? I bet 99% of Series S gamers don't care about splitscreen either and will miss out as well. It is absurd to hold back the entire release over this.

[Noskypeno]

Halo Infinite got a lot of heat for not having split screen co-op. But that was a different situation because
1. They promised it before the game was even revealed.
2. It's a game series that couch co-op was a staple feature in and fans were rightly mad when Halo 5 missed on it, bringing them to point 1

[QuantumMechanic]

Local multiplayer is a staple feature of Larian's recent RPGs on console. My gal and I loved paying the DOS games together, and so have many other couples and groups of friends.

[Z501]

"What debate is there to NOT drop the parity clause?"

The S has sold way more then the X

[CrimsonWing69]

So, keep a game from releasing on the X platform, that can absolute run it with local co-op, because the S sold more? Yea, I can see that being a great debate.

[MrBaskerville]

They can't because thet promised potential Series S that it would run games the same as series X with all the same features. People bought S based on that promise, there's no going back.

[Vengeance1138]

By all means keep the parity clause lol more free wins for Sony. All the money in the world won't save MS from their unrivaled history of bad decisions.

[Lightning77]

Uuh yeah duh. If it's holding back games on X so drop the dead weight and produce more X consoles.

[ocelot07]

Producing more X consoles is not the issue they are available to buy no issues. There is not much interest in the X.

I think what's happening is. People are buying the ps5. Then buying a series s for gamepass games.

[Lightning77]

And that's where you're wrong very wrong. They've had troubles with supplies for the X not the S.

During the Xbox event phil mentioned he ramped up the supply of series consoles. He's obviously alluding to the X seeing how there's plenty of S's out there.

[ocelot07]

@Lightning77

So explain how I'm wrong? The X has been in-stock for a long time at least a year and a half. Going by Amazon US, UK, Germany, France, Canada for example.

Just because Phill says something does not mean it's true.

[sci4me]

@ Ocelot07. Same here in Sweden.

[Lightning77]

Yeah NOW you can find one easier after the E3 announcement. Before that it was hard to come across the the X because their Supply sucks. They were barely im stores or online retail late last year and early this year.

Again now you can find them allot easier.

[ocelot07]

@Lightning77

The series X has been readily available world wide for well over a year. I remember there was plenty of bundle deals last Christmas in a fair few country's.

Even the pre owned market in the UK. A series X can now be had for as little as £270.

Are you telling me the series X has been harder to find than a ps5 for the first half of the year? As I mentioned earlier it was only January 2023 when Sony started ramping production. Since January they have been ready available. Are you honestly telling me while the ps5 was easy to find from January to June the Xbox series X was out of stock everywhere lol?

The Verge done a piece about them becoming easy to get back in early 2022. https://www.theverge.com/20...

[QuantumMechanic]

Microsoft is not really interested in selling Series X consoles. Series X consoles cost a lot more to produce; and the low-price mass-adoption digital-only S better advances their long-term subscription-centric business plan.

[ocelot07]

I'm a series s owner and I 100% think they need to drop it. Otherwise your going to get BG3 situations more often. Getting released on PlayStation first because they are not allowed to release it on the X until they fix up the s version and ship out the same time.

[Tedakin]

Yeah it's giving Sony a win they didn't even work for. Now all their fans are hyping the game up as a console exclusive, and it's coming out the same week as Starfield. Xbox keeps allowing things like this to happen.

[Lightning77]

Yep they keep shooting themselves and never know why things hardly go there way. Or they'll blame everybody else.

To think the S was considered to be the only console from them at one point... Wow.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

The moment they drop it, it’ll be like dropping the Kinect: there becomes minimal motivation to support it. Some niche studios will still utilize it, but other studios with older audiences will obey their ROI analysis.

[franwex]

Just make some games playable on X and not S.

[EvertonFC]

So alienating about 80% of your fanbase ? Good one/S

[franwex]

Most games are still playable on the S tho. Nintendo has done this before-even with the Switch as there’s a Switch Lite and some games require the regular switch.

But yes, some gamers will be left out. I’m thinking of solutions. We can all agree that the S was dumb.

[franwex]

There you go. Baulders gate 3 won’t have parity. I’m sure some games in the future will skip the s.

[purple101]

So you're telling me, m$ brought 20 world renowned studios, just to force them into making games for the potato box; interesting.

[EvertonFC]

Seems like it 🤣😂

[FallenAngel1984]

A significant portion of the Xbox Series userbase got the S model, so it’s not something that can just simply be dropped less Microsoft fractures it’s own install base base and cause mistrust like Sega did with Saturn

[EvertonFC]

Yep approx 72-77% are series S

[Elda]

It most certainly should be dropped. Series X owners shouldn't be held back knowing they paid for a premium console. Later for the Series S.

[P_Bomb]

It’s a bit of a pickle, trying to please a splintered install base. But as a Series S owner (have an X as well) I would understand and give my blessing so far as dropping parity. Patch the S version later, release the X version now.

[darthv72]

As an S & X owner myself... Id say lock split screen to the X and make the S strictly single player. If you want to play with another person, online co-op is still a thing. For local couch co-op (split screen), that would be X only. The base game runs fine on both. Its only when it comes to split screen is where the roadblock is.

[P_Bomb]

Agreed. Don’t delay the game on X because of the split screen thing on S. The core experience should still be the same. I’m sure S mains would understand if they just lay it out honestly.

[HyperMoused]

Yes they should but they wont

[ChasterMies]

Xbox Series X owners: “Drop that weak ass shit!”

Xbox Series S owners: “Think of the children!”

Xbox One X owners: “sigh”

[ironmonkey]

That's exactly what the games look like owning that console. Just like the headline picture.

[Chocoburger]

As this generation continues I see some medium and smaller sized publishers and developers third parties just giving up on the Xbox ecosystem entirely because the S is too much of a pain to deal with.

[crazyCoconuts]

Must be a small debate 😉

[northpaws]

The only difficulty is many people bought Series S because of the promise that they will get the same game as Series X, just lower graphic settings. If they do drop the parity, there could be a class action.

[Tedakin]

Something like Series S splitscreen should not be allowed to hold back the release of an entire game. Release the game now on Xbox Series X/S and patch in Series S splitscreen later when it's ready. What percentage of gamers are still using splitscreen?

[shadowT]

Forza Motorsport - less features at launch day e.g. Split-screen delayed
Baldur's Gate 3 - release delayed
Starfield - 30 fps only, 60 fps delayed

With Xbox Series S 'feature parity' more AAA games will struggle.

[EvertonFC]

I can see starfield running shite on series S but great on series X. Gotta be mix reviews imo across the 2 consoles sdk

[dumahim]

Don't forget Halo Infinite, promised split screen to come later, but dropped it instead after it's mostly working.

[Futureshark]

The series X owners say drop it, the series S owners say keep it, but which is right?
There's only one way to find out.....FIGHT!!!

[rippermcrip]

Everyone in here arguing that Microsoft needs to do it for the "true gamers" and leave the S casuals behind.

You got no one to blame but yourself for buying the X. Everyone told you this would happen. You believed Spencer again. Stop supporting Xbox. Microsoft sucks at making games.

[EvertonFC]

The ONLY way out for MS is to offer a trade in scheme form seiries S to X which would cost them a billion to do and discontinue the series S?
Commodore did something similar in the 90s when I traded in my CDTV for a PC when the CDTV flopped.

[WiiU-Dude]

There are too many people who bought the Series S in good faith to leave them high 'n dry. Yes Microsoft may have meant well with the Series S, but it seems it is causing issues now. A mistake on Microsoft's part. I don't know the answer, but to sudden change expectations and move the goal posts to leave Series S owners in the cold does not seem to be a solution.

[EvertonFC]

MS could discontinue the series S and offer a free trade in scheme to the series X maybe ?
We still have 4 and half years left of this gen and it's ONLY gonna get worse.
We haven't even really seen the big guns yet either, the gen is just getting started tbh.

[WiiU-Dude]

Yeah a credit system may be the only true answer, but some may not want to pay the extra. I don't know. Hopefully things get figured out.

[Knightofelemia]

Still wondering what Microsoft was smoking when they created the S. I can understand affordability but they did it all wrong. I mean Sony got it right same machine same specs, only thing missing a disc drive. I collect consoles but I won't waste money buying a series S formthe extra cash just grab a Series X at least you have a 4k blu ray player. Where I live the Series S is always coming up in ads used, pawnshops used, they are off loaded at Gemstop all the time as trade ins. Stores like Best Buy and Walmart have problems off loading the machine. No one wants an XB1X on steroids where I live and I don't blame them.

[anast]

They all ready told you all that the SX would be a paperweight. I don't get how people keep supporting a company that has hustled them in a bad way for 30 years. At this point you got to feel stupid.

[ONI5]

Which sku sells more? S or X?

[EvertonFC]

Series S by between 72-78%

[dumahim]

Where is this figure coming from? It seems new since this is the first I'm seeing it.

[Miacosa]

Yes, please.

[gold_drake]

yea they should

but MS wont do that. they absolutely believe that the S is hot shit.

[Destiny1080]

all they have to do, is use the sliders to reduce the quality to rock bottom and hope that it works

[sagapo]

I don’t mind the SeriesS but the parity needs to go!

[glennhkboy]

I own both a Switch Lite & Series S, the lesser of both systems. I think MS should follow Nintendo's example, which is to admit that not all Switch game can be played on Switch Lite. Also acknowledge that same games mechanic are not translated perfectly from Switch to Switch Lite (some puzzles in Breath of the Wild was impossible to pass in Switch Lite). Consumer (like myself) made a conscious choice to choose a cheaper console over the more expensive one, should fully expect that some of the feature would be different from the more expensive product.

[EvertonFC]

They can't say that now, it would cause a massive law suit, if they'd said that at the beginning it would have been fine.

[MrGameAndWatch]

No one really needs 4K (or fake 4K) or 120 fps on console, so for me (and lot of "old" tv owners) Series X is too much. With a disc reader, Series S would have been the perfect deal for me. Crosoft made a decent and an affordable console despite the fact it is digital only. The fact is there is more Series S than X, so devs should focus on S and enhance for X and not the opposite.

[Rhythmattic]

"Debate"
LOL

[neomahi]

Because their opinion matters in this...... Xbox can't do that because those that invested in the Series was part of the business model all along, Xbox can't just change it like that without alienating a good chunk of customers and ticking them off. Its everyone that has an Xbox One X that knows it's superior to the Series S that's been locked out already, which is stupid. Hi-Fi Rush and even Starfield are possible on the Xbox One X because they can run on the Series S and Xbox wouldn't even accommodate that to push selling new hardware, again, even though Xbox One X is more powerful. But, devs are also still developing for PS4 so, it's obviously not that big of a deal, so there ya go

[gerbintosh]

These is what people get when they try to release a console for $299 that is not specced like the switch

[FlintGREY]

They need to what Sony did with Horizon FW and Frozen Wilds, so that Xbox players aren't completely left out. Everyone will still be able to play

[Exvalos]

Should be dropped? It never should of been mandatory in the first place.

[mastershredder]

“Shouldn’t exist”, but it does and they willingly sold it, pushed it as a capable console, set expectations and are STILL selling it. They straight-up fleeced their audience with a Microsoft corporate smile.

It is class action lawsuit time. This shit7 is beyond unacceptable. MS’s crowning achievement was f-ing over more than half of their used base. Achievement Unlocked.

[Dandizzle]

this is from windowscentral.com
Im sure "fans" are really debating this, and not just a slow trickle of paid for MS articles trying to remain relevant when they have don't have alot on offer at the moment for games.

[DuckOnQuack35]

Yes they should, it's the dumbest thing ever.

[durran3]

I seriously cant think of a single person thats playing split screen lol - What is this 1998

[Nineball2112]

Absolutely they should. The series S is an entry level SKU. It makes sense that it would have the exact same features as the more expensive SKU.

[DarthZoolu]

Series S was just a bad idea. They should’ve cut down the size of the SSD and removed the disc Drive and just made it a series X as well.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Xbox series S should be dropped imo.

[Schriefer9]

Parity should have never been announced. Nor 1440p 120fps. Now consoles are different than PC but basically they crippled the ram. 8 gb DDR6 and 2 gb slower ram. They basically gave a system a gtx1660 slightly slower with crippled ram. Should have been marketed as a 720p 30 fps system. But the series s is not holding back gaming, like the Steamdeck or Switch doesn’t hold back gaming. If it plays great if not sorry. If you spend $3-400 on your gaming system there will be limits- if you don’t like limits spend $2-3000 on the newest gpu, cpu, and ram combos on PC.