Katsuhiro Harada criticizes Xbox Series S development challenges

Katsuhiro Harada criticized the Xbox Series S at the Console Game Developers Conference 2026 in Seoul. Speaking on a panel, Harada said he wished hardware like the Xbox Series S would not be released because the performance gap between the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X creates unnecessary work for developers. He noted that studios must deliver versions for both systems and often face complaints when the Xbox Series S version has lower resolution textures or less graphical detail. Harada noted that developers can view the Nintendo Switch 2 as a separate platform that has different technical expectations.

Image: Digital Citizen

Paweł Sasko, an associate game director at CD Projekt Red, said that developing for weaker hardware can help optimize games for other platforms like the PlayStation 5 or high-performance PCs. Sasko said work on the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Cyberpunk 2077 used 80 to 100 developers for more than a year and helped improve Cyberpunk 2077 version 2.5. Sasko also said the lower price of the Xbox Series S helps with accessibility. Microsoft has not confirmed if its next generation hardware, associated with Project Helix, will include multiple models with different performance levels.