Xbox Series S "just takes development effort," Baldur's Gate boss says

In an interview discussing Baldur's Gate 3, Larien Studios' CEO said that the Xbox Series S isn't holding gaming back, "it just takes development effort."

Tom West

Published 31 Jul 2023

Back in June, Larien Studios' CEO Swen Vincke revealed that Microsoft's engineers are assisting with Baldur's Gate 3, which might require some "compromises" on Xbox, as the team has had some difficulty getting split-screen to work on the Xbox Series S. Vincke has now said that it's not that the Xbox Series S is holding game development back, "it just takes development effort."

The Xbox "platform is perfectly fine" Baldurs Gate 3 boss says

When speaking with Skill Up recently, Swen Vincke was asked if the Xbox Series S is "holding back the development of games?" Vincke said that it's "an okay proposition" for Microsoft to want compatibility across both the Xbox Series X and Series S and that it's up to the publisher or developer to decide if they want to develop their game for the platform. The CEO goes on to explain that Larien worked hard to get Divinity: Original Sin 2 ported to Nintendo Switch, likening the Xbox Series S to Nintendo's console, which is the weakest console on the market. Larien Studios started out as a PC developer, so the team has a lot of experience building games for various system specifications.

"We're going to get there; it's just going to take some time. Do I think it holds [game development] back? It just defines certain parameters within which you have to develop, and there are ways of doing that," Vincke said. "It just takes development effort, and that effort, despite us having grown, we don't have infinite resources. That means we can't do everything at the same time."

Vincke seems certain that Baldur's Gate 3 will launch on Xbox, and while the CEO hopes that it'll arrive this year, Vincke doesn't "want to commit to it because optimization comes with this annoying thing, where you know where you start but not where you end."

If you'd like to lose yourself in a huge world while you wait for Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox, why not check out some of the best RPG games on Xbox?

Xbox Series X|S

Written by Tom West

Tom has been playing video games since he was old enough to hold a controller, experimenting with a number of systems until he eventually fell in love with Xbox. With a passion for the platform, he decided to make a career out of it, and now happily spends his days writing about that which he loves. If he’s not hunting for Xbox achievements, you’ll likely find him somewhere in The Elder Scrolls Online or fighting for survival in Battlefield.