Crimson Desert Exposes the Xbox Series X vs Series S Performance Gap

Digital Foundry finds Crimson Desert on Xbox Series X largely playable and closer to PS5 with three modes (Quality 1080p/30, Balanced 1280p/40, Performance 1080p/60) and a new 4K output via FSR 3 that sharpens visuals at the cost of ~45–55fps. Series S is a drastic downgrade—720p/40fps in performance mode with no ray tracing and noticeably high input latency—making it hard to recommend as a home console experience. CPU-heavy areas still cause dips and occasional tearing on Series X, and the article notes the potential for Switch 2 DLSS-like upscaling to outpace Series S, underscoring a clear console performance gap between the two Xbox systems.