When the Xbox Series S was announced as an affordable alternative to the Xbox Series X, the pitch from Microsoft was clear. Sure, there would be visual compromises such as a lack of ray tracing and lower resolution, but when it came to functionality, games for Series S and X would be completely identical.
That's about to change now, as Microsoft has allowed Larian Studios to publish their popular role-playing game Baldur's Gate III for Series S without the split screen co-op included in the Series X version.
However, according to Phil Spencer, this is not a matter of "parity," and the Xbox boss also believes that Series S owners understand that games will run differently on their console.
"In terms of parity, I don't think you've heard from us or Larian, that this was about parity," Spencer tells Eurogamer. "I think that's more that the community is talking about it. There are features that ship on X today that do not ship on S, even from our own games, like ray-tracing that works on X, it's not on S in certain games. So for an S customer, they spent roughly half what the X customer bought, they understand that it's not going to run the same way."
The Xbox Series S has sold well and has helped Microsoft channel customers into their Game Pass ecosystem. At the same time, several game studios have complained that the less powerful console is a hindrance when it comes to optimising their games, and it will be interesting to see whether more studious will follow Larian Studios' example and release less watered down versions for the Series S.