Ori studio founder takes aim at Xbox Series S and it's "frankly stupid spec"
Thomas Mahler has been speaking out about the performance potential of the Microsoft console and how "it's literally been holding everyone back."
In a new series of posts and comments on social media, Moon Studios' founder Thomas Mahler has spoken out about the performance potential of the Xbox Series S and how fans should stop demanding 60 fps out of the system.
The conversation started when Mahler mentioned Grand Theft Auto VI running on a Series S isn't an indictment that every game should run at 60 fps on the system. He explains it's unreasonable to ask as "we don't know yet how well that thing will run" and that "Rockstar literally just spent over a billion dollars and had THOUSANDS of people working on it for over a decade now?"
Beyond this, Mahler also notes the Series S is a "6 year old machine that cost $299 at launch" while it also has "literally has half the RAM that even a Steam Deck has" and yet "ought to run all the newest games at perfect performance".
He then regards the Series S as a "potato machine", which has caused a bit of backlash to stir up among fans, who are unhappy with his opinion on the affordable system tailored to families. Mahler's response to this backlash however is a rather intriguing one, as he claims the Series S has been holding back development as current Xbox games need to be developed for both the capable Series X but also the "potato" Series S.
"Yes and how much pain do you think this has caused developers?
"There'll have been plenty of devs who had to tear their hair out and couldn't be home to have dinners with their families many, many times all while being called lazy or incompetent online just because we're bound to still support this frankly stupid spec.
"Most developers aren't allowed to speak up online due to how our industry works, but unless we say things out loud we won't affect change.
"So @asha_shar let's please change that policy, it's literally been holding everyone back."
As for what Moon Studios is currently working on, the developer will soon be bringing No Rest for the Wicked out of Early Access and launching the title on consoles too.
Do you agree that the Series S has been holding back development or are Mahler's statements unfair?
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