The developers of Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl originally thought the game would not possibly run on Xbox Series S due to the console’s technical limitations relative to Series X. However, GSC Game World spent time optimizing for the system and unlocked new “streaming” technology to help get the game running on Series S. Now, the studio believes not only will Stalker 2 offer a good experience on Series S, but the company maintains any studio can get their game running on Series S with enough time and resources.
“At first, we thought bringing Stalker 2 to the Xbox Series S might be impossible. We have such a big game with so many mechanics, a huge amount of things,” the studio told Windows Central. “It felt like this must be impossible to do. But then we start optimizing, adding new features for streaming information. Unreal Engine has a lot of features for this, but for our game, we really had to squeeze up every megabyte from every piece of system content we could, and now we did it.”
The developer went on to say it’s now “possible for any game to reach the Xbox Series S’ memory limits.” However, the studio admitted that not every team has the time or the resources to optimize for Series S, however.
Stalker 2 for Series S runs at a locked 30fps, compared to a goal of 60fps on Series X. It could drop to 55fps during intense sequences, and GSC said it’s continuing to optimize to help improve this. For the Series S version of Stalker 2, GSC said it’s possible for the game to reach 60fps, but it’s not as consistent. “But we’re looking to get a performance mode for Xbox Series S, to get it to 60fps. We think it’s possible,” the developer said.
Quite a few game developers from across the industry have commented on the Series S console’s relative lack of power and how developers needing to support this system might be doing themselves a disservice. For Baldur’s Gate 3, issues with the Series S edition held the game’s release back.
Stalker 2, which was developed by GSC in the middle of the Ukraine war with Russia, launches this November and will be available on Game Pass at launch. GameSpot recently spent some time with the game and found it to be a frightening but strangely alluring return to the Zone.