A senior developer working on the upcoming Gotham Knights has blamed the Xbox Series S for the game's locked frame rate and other technical limitations.
In now-deleted tweets shared on Twitter, Lee Devonald, a senior character technical artist at WB Games Montréal, called the Xbox Series S a "potato" and said it was holding back an "entire generation of games." Devonald wrote that developers are facing difficulties in fully utilizing the powerful new hardware of the Xbox Series X because Microsoft continues to push for release on the weaker Series S console. He added that because multi-platform games have to "optimize for the lowest performers," fans would continue to see lower frame rates and less intensive graphics if developers had to include consoles like the Series S in their release plans. Since publishing the tweets, Devonald's Twitter account seems to have been deleted.
The developer's comments come in the wake of a growing backlash against Gotham Knights' locked 30fps frame rate and lack of a performance mode. WB Games Montréal blamed the features included in Gotham Knights for the omission, saying it had to make sacrifices to account for things like "untethered co-op gameplay" and a "highly detailed open world." The news caused much chagrin among PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X owners on social media, many of whom said the locked frame count was unacceptable on hardware that can smoothly run games at 60fps.
The run-up to the launch of Gotham Knights has been plagued with other controversies, despite the game's extensive marketing campaign promising to deliver a fresh and engaging story focusing on the allies of Batman after the Caped Crusader's death. Fans expressed outrage at Harley Quinn's redesign, saying WB Games Montréal had aged her too much and brought her image too close to that of her ex-lover The Joker. Gotham Knights' combat system has also come under intense scrutiny, with fans decrying it for looking unimpressive and basic compared to the well-received Arkham series of Batman games.
Following a press-only playtest, previews of Gotham Knights began to appear online and seemed to confirm fans' worst fears. Most critics praised the game's story and its likable cast of superhero characters. However, many took issues with Gotham Knights' uninspiring combat, spotlighting it as the most glaring quality issue. With the game due to launch on Oct. 21, developer WB Games Montréal has also had to contend with major Gotham Knights story spoilers leaking online due to the early release of a strategy guide.
Gotham Knights launches on Oct. 21 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Source: Twitter