Xbox Port Delays Spark Debate Over Microsoft’s Parity Rule Amid Series S Memory Challenges

Earlier this week, during a recent State of Play, it was announced that Moon Studios’ action RPG, No Rest for the Wicked, is set to launch on PlayStation 5 after a lengthy early access phase on PC. However, Xbox fans eager to experience the next title from the creators of Ori and the Will of the Wisps will need to hold off while the studio fine-tunes the game for the Xbox Series S.

On June 2, Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler addressed a fan’s inquiry about the absence of an Xbox port, despite Wicked’s upcoming PS5 release in October. Mahler, known for his candidness, attributed some of the challenges to the limitations of the Xbox Series S:

“Series S is making that rough,” he stated regarding the porting process. “We’ll ship it after in a good way once it’s optimized like crazy for Switch 2 and Xbox.”

It’s important to note that Xbox mandates all titles released on the Series X must also be compatible with the Series S, enforcing strict parity rules. This has led to complications in the past, such as with Baldur’s Gate 3, where developers wanted to release without split-screen functionality on the Series S, which Xbox did not permit. Ultimately, a resolution was reached, allowing Baldur’s Gate 3 to launch on Series S without split-screen.

Mahler’s comments on Discord gained traction online, prompting him to clarify on Twitter that there is no exclusivity deal and reiterating that the Series S is the reason for the delay in the Xbox port.

“There’s no exclusivity deal. We just wanted to get Wicked into the hands of console players as quickly as we possibly can since the console crowd overwhelmingly got frustrated with us only supporting Steam / Steam Deck so far,” Mahler explained.

“Shipping on Xbox wouldn’t have been a problem if we’d only be talking Xbox Series X. But Series S is a requirement to ship, and the biggest issue there is memory. On Series S, we only have 8 gigs, and since we’re constantly streaming massive amounts of data in and out, we’re not quite there yet to hit that spec, and we won’t be until October. That pass to hit Switch 2 and Xbox Series S specs will have to come afterwards cause it requires even more hardcore optimizations. And none of you would want a bad port – you’d want Wicked to feel awesome to play wherever you play it. And that just takes time.”

In light of the news regarding No Rest for the Wicked’s delay due to the Series S, game developer and former Valve writer Chet Faliszek expressed his hope that Xbox would allow developers the option to skip the Series S, sharing that he and his team faced numerous challenges getting their co-op shooter, The Anacrusis, to run on the less powerful console.

Another developer, Nic Weyand, commented on Bluesky that the “parity issue between S and X sucks.” He’s not alone in facing difficulties with the Series S; the developers behind Battlefield 6 also reported struggles in optimizing their FPS for the smaller console.

It’s intriguing to consider that later this year, assuming no unexpected delays, Rockstar Games is set to release Grand Theft Auto 6 on Xbox Series S. What will that experience be like? Will it run smoothly? Or could it be that, under new leadership, Xbox allows Rockstar to bypass the parity rule and launch GTA 6 exclusively on Series X? If any title could prompt such a change, it would be GTA 6. We’ll find out soon enough.