Battlefield 6 Developers Admit Xbox Series S Crashes During Early Testing

Microsoft’s decision to release two versions of its current-gen console has long been debated. The Xbox Series X offers the power and performance expected of modern hardware. At the same time, the cheaper Series S provides an accessible entry point for players, particularly those using Xbox Game Pass. Yet the trade-off has become clear: the Series S’s lower specifications often create extra work for developers striving to optimise demanding titles.

That issue came to the forefront during Battlefield 6’s development. In a recent interview with Kotaku, Christian Buhl, Technical Director, admitted that the game regularly crashed on Series S hardware during testing phases.

Despite the adaptability of EA’s Frostbite Engine, the console’s limited memory pool — smaller even than that of a mid-range PC — caused severe performance bottlenecks and instability as recently as a year ago.

Memory Limitations Proved a Major Hurdle

Buhl explained that these challenges forced the studio to re-evaluate its optimisation pipeline. Entire workflows had to be adjusted, with engineers focusing heavily on squeezing every bit of efficiency out of the Series S hardware.

This additional work significantly extended development time but ultimately paid dividends across all platforms. By refining resource management and reducing memory load, the team improved stability and performance not just on Series S, but also on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

Optimisation Efforts Benefit All Platforms

Now, after extensive adjustments, DICE and EA are confident that Battlefield 6 will run smoothly at 60fps on Xbox Series S, alleviating fears of performance disparity between the cheaper console and its more powerful sibling. For players anxious about parity across platforms, this reassurance is welcome news.

Battlefield 66 is scheduled for release on October 10, launching on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. After overcoming one of its most challenging development hurdles, EA is positioning the game as a fully optimised, cross-platform experience.