Xbox Series X games held up by hardware

As time went on, the games became more and more demanding, both due to increasing scale and graphical fidelity. This concept is nothing new, but the current generation of consoles has proven time and time again that even with the most advanced hardware, sometimes a game just won't run well. It's hard for developers to take advantage of the console's rather limiting power, because unlike high-end gaming PCs, system specs like those found in the current Xbox lineup can be quite restrictive, leading to poorer performance and technical issues that are virtually non-existent elsewhere.

Making a game is difficult enough, but having to optimize and run it on several completely different spec lists while trying to have a fairly universal experience across all boundaries becomes a bigger problem that has plagued several great games, specifically the X series. These otherwise exceptional games launched in unfinished states, were laggy, and struggled to approach the performance seen on similarly specced PCs, leading to much more criticism fans and frustration. a well-polished gaming session, but they just can't do it.

Baldur's Gate 3

Generation miss

Details:

• S series memory limitations

• A missed peak of cultural significance

Baldur's Gate 3 it arrived on Xbox long after its cultural moment had peaked, and the delay was tied directly to the hardware within the line. Larian struggled to make the split-screen co-op feature work reliably on the Xbox Series S, whose lower memory ceiling created technical hurdles not present on the Series X or PS5. Because of this, the Series X version was effectively held hostage to a weaker machine, leading to a fairly significant delay that meant the initial hype had already left the station by the time it rolled out at the end of the year.

The reason this was such a big deal was because not only did they lose out on Xbox gamers for quite a long time, but the company itself lost a lot of potential customers who would have otherwise enjoyed playing the game on their Xbox, but instead chose to look elsewhere or wait for a sale. Even when it launched, inconsistencies and performance compromises were evident when compared to higher-end platforms, and while it certainly still shines on consoles today, it serves as a cautionary tale of cross-generational limitations and the potential consequences that come with them.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

The technical ambitions meet the console's limitations

Details:

• Hardware streaming restrictions

• Visible gap between PCs

Microsoft Flight Simulator is one of the most technically impressive games ever released on a console, yet remains a clear example of hardware holding back big ambitions. The PC version allows players to push things to their limits, but the X-series clearly takes the experience back due to memory and CPU limitations that prevent the same level of fidelity and distance seen elsewhere. Other issues like object popping, reduced overall world detail, and more aggressive system loading all contributed to making the product feel much less enjoyable in the console world.

Honestly, it's clear why the device struggled, as the game requires it to render in complex aircraft systems, dense cityscapes, and vivid weather, all within the constraints of a single stock system. Because of this, there have been reports of instability and reduced performance during longer sessions, and while updates have improved the optimization since launch, it still doesn't come close to the full simulation experience seen on PC.

Ark: Survival Ascended

UE5 Brilliance fighting outside the PC space

Details:

• Poorly scaled UE5 features

• Bandwidth bottlenecks

ARK: Survival Ascended's the move to Unreal Engine 5 promised a dramatic leap forward, but the Series X version reveals how poorly some UE5 features adapt to console hardware. The complexity of the engine has so many positives and the technology is incredibly impressive, but without proper implementation, features like Lumen lighting and Nanite geometry put a heavy strain on the GPU and memory bandwidth, leading to inconsistent performance, unstable frame rates, and frequent visual compromises.

On PC, the game's technical ambitions can be brutally enforced by powerful hardware if players are willing to push their system to the absolute limit, but the same can't be said for the X Series. There's only so much power that can be gleaned from a device with quite frankly limited specs, and despite several updates that attempted to address stability issues, the game still can't quite live up to the same pre-launch expectations.

Cities: Skylines 2

It is still waiting for a new metropolis to be built

Details:

• The launch of the console has been postponed indefinitely

• Too demanding even for some mid-range computers at release

Cities: Skylines 2 is a rare example of a game that was shelved indefinitely, at least on consoles, because its simulation complexity proved too demanding for Series X hardware. The game's detailed citizen behavior and traffic simulation overwhelmed CPU and memory resources during internal testing, leading to the eventual decision to pull the port entirely until further notice. Unlike graphical compromises, these system simulations can't be easily scaled down without fundamentally changing the gameplay, meaning that even if players wanted to undo some of the settings, it wouldn't really make any big changes.

Even high-end PC had launch issues, so a stable console release was unrealistic without a major overhaul. The delay reflects an honest acknowledgment of hardware caps rather than poor optimization, as if the developers had decided to push for a console launch instead, it could have done far more harm than good in the long run. It might not be the first game that comes to mind when people think of modern hardware issues, but it's a great reminder that pretty much any game can suffer from these issues, whether it's a blockbuster AAA masterpiece or a city-building simulator.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

Too much action to handle

Details:

• Inconsistency in performance before and after repairs

• Visual downgrade versus PC version

Darktide was launched and met with a lot of criticism regarding performance, and the delay of the Xbox version was due to the exact same reason. Dense enemy hordes and huge physics demands pushed consoles far beyond expectations, meaning that maintaining a steady framerate during peak combat encounters was extremely difficult, leading to extended optimization times beyond the initial launch window.

Despite the long development cycle, the console version still shows signs of compromise, especially in the visuals department, where some textures seem much less clear than the PC version. And despite all this extra work, the game still struggles when the action gets too intense, often dampening the whole experience. Eventually, Darktide remains one of those cases where the core design, which is all about violent excess and constant aggression, makes the actual end product much less enjoyable due to the limiting hardware that prevents the game from reaching its true potential.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

Functional, but hardly ideal

Details:

• Long loading times later in the game

• User interface and performance trade-offs

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous only about the features on the Series X, but due to the nature of the game it shows clear signs of being limited on the console. For starters, the interface is incredibly restrictive, far less intuitive and responsive compared to the PC version. Also, larger-scale battles and extensive calculations can often lead to extended load times and occasional performance drops, mainly due to limited memory, which has a huge impact on game performance, especially when it comes to late-game scenarios.

While not completely broken, the console version feels less responsive and less flexible than its PC counterpart, where mods, faster navigation, and increased performance dramatically improve the overall feel of the game. The X Series can handle the game competently, but it's yet another case of a CRPG losing its core identity and fluidity when forced onto a less capable piece of hardware, resulting in an otherwise large player base being greatly diminished despite being available on multiple platforms at once.