Xbox Series S has been an unexpected ally for Switch 2 games

The optimizations made for the Microsoft console could have facilitated many conversions to Nintendo's new machine.

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Since the release of Switch 2, one of the most discussed issues has been how studios and publishers have managed to adapt some large-scale multi-platform games to Nintendo’s new console with relative ease. For Digital Foundry, the answer may lie in an unexpected place: Xbox Series S.

The renowned team specializing in technical analysis believes that the efforts made over the past few years to optimize titles on Microsoft’s more modest console have ultimately benefited Switch 2 indirectly, simplifying the work of numerous studios.

Xbox Series S limitations may have served as a reference for Switch 2

In one of their latest analyses, Oliver Mackenzie from Digital Foundry explains that many of the techniques used to adapt games to Xbox Series S have proven to be very useful when bringing those same projects to Switch 2. According to the media outlet, developers were already accustomed to working with less powerful hardware than Xbox Series X or PS5, which has allowed them to accelerate many processes.

As an example, Digital Foundry mentions Final Fantasy VII Remake, whose graphics configuration on Switch 2 bears some similarities to the one used on Xbox Series S. However, Nintendo’s console has an additional advantage thanks to NVIDIA’s DLSS technologies, which enable improved image quality and compensate for some of the power differences.

Digital Foundry believes that the work done over the years on Xbox Series S has contributed to creating a more flexible and prepared development environment for less powerful systems. Although it’s not a direct collaboration between the two companies, the media outlet thinks that Microsoft’s console has ultimately played a more important role than many imagined in bringing major games to Switch 2.