Remedy Opens Up About Challenges Developing Alan Wake 2 for Xbox Series S

ign.com:

Earlier this month, developer Remedy confirmed the Xbox Series S version of the hotly anticipated Alan Wake 2 lacks the 60 frames per second performance mode the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 versions launch with later in October.

I’m glad to say that Alan Wake 2 will have a Performance mode on PS5 and Xbox Series X. The game has been built from the beginning as a 30fps experience focusing on visuals and ambiance, but somehow we have managed to include a solid Performance mode. We’ll talk details later.

The news was the latest in a string of rough headlines for Microsoft’s cheaper console, which is at the heart of split-screen issues that have held up the Xbox launch of smash hit Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game Baldur’s Gate 3.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has insisted games launch across the more powerful Xbox Series X and the less powerful but cheaper Xbox Series S, both of which are approaching their third year on sale. But the underpowered Xbox Series S represents an intensifying headache for Microsoft as more and more developers look to make the most of the power of the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

That’s exactly what Remedy is trying to do with Alan Wake 2, which is a graphical showcase on current-gen consoles. In a recent episode of IGN’s Next-Gen Console Watch, below, Remedy’s communications director Thomas Puha talked openly about the challenge the studio faces getting Alan Wake 2 running well on the Xbox Series S.

“Series S, the CPU is pretty much the same as on Series X,” Puha said. “But the GPU is an issue. It really is. And then, having less memory is a pretty big problem. And we often get, ‘okay, you make PC games, surely you know how to scale.’ Well, memory is not a problem on PC. It really isn’t. And that’s one