Harada takes a shot at Xbox Series S in front of Microsoft: the debate nobody wanted to open

Katsuhiro Harada, the Japanese developer who spent decades at the helm of the Tekken series, isn't exactly known for holding his tongue, and this time was no exception. According to Vandal, which in turn cites South Korean outlet Inven Global, Harada used a talk on multiplatform development to say out loud what many studios only say in private: that he wishes consoles like the Xbox Series S were never released. And he said it with a senior Xbox executive in the room.

The scene took place at the Console Game Developers Conference 2026, held on November 9 in Seoul. The comment was made as a joke, but it matters because it puts a very serious tension on the table: how much extra work it takes for a studio to adapt its games to Microsoft's cheapest and least powerful machine. When someone with Harada's standing says it, and in front of the company itself, it stops being a behind-the-scenes complaint.

What you need to know

• Who spoke: Katsuhiro Harada, longtime head of the Tekken series.
• Where and when: at the Console Game Developers Conference 2026, on November 9 in Seoul, South Korea.
• What he said: that he would prefer consoles like the Xbox Series S not to reach the market, because of the additional work their lower power demands from developers.
• In front of whom: an Xbox executive and Paweł Sasko, associate director at CD Projekt RED, who were sharing the panel.
• Sasko's response: when Harada asked him whether he had ever been frustrated by the Series S, he replied diplomatically that the console presents them with challenges.

A joke with a lot of truth behind it

Context is key. The conversation revolved around the difficulties of releasing the same game on several platforms, and that was where Harada fired his shot. It wasn't a head-on attack or a prepared speech: it was the kind of comment made among colleagues when the topic touches a familiar sore spot. But the setting changes everything, because saying it on social media is not the same as saying it with a Microsoft representative sitting a few feet away.

According to Vandal's report, Harada also explained why a less powerful machine creates so much extra work. The logic is easy to follow: if a game has to run on a more modest console within the same family, someone has to spend time tuning it, trimming it down and testing it for that hardware, and that time isn't being spent on anything else.

The role of CD Projekt RED

Harada didn't stop at giving his opinion and decided to bring his fellow panelist into it. He asked Paweł Sasko, one of the names behind Cyberpunk 2077, point-blank whether he had felt frustrated working with the Series S. Sasko took the diplomatic route and went no further than saying the console poses challenges for them. It isn't an enthusiastic endorsement of Harada's argument, but it isn't a defense of the machine either. Sometimes what goes unsaid carries as much weight as what is said.

Our take

At Underworld Lordz we understand both sides of this coin. An affordable console is a gateway for a huge number of people, and in our community, spread across the Americas and Europe, we know very well that not everyone can afford the most expensive hardware. More players in the game means more opponents, a bigger scene and a larger audience for those who create content. That has a value that shouldn't be dismissed from the comfort of a stage.

That said, Harada is pointing at something that hits competitive players directly. In a fighting game, consistency is everything: stable performance isn't a luxury, it's the foundation of competition. If a studio has to split its resources so the game performs on a less capable machine, that effort has to come from somewhere, and we think it's fair to ask whether it ends up taking polish, content or update speed away from the other versions.

What we like most about this episode is the candor. We'll take a creator who raises the problem face to face, with humor and in front of the person responsible, over the usual corporate silence any day. Still, the criticism falls short if it doesn't come with alternatives: saying you wish a console didn't exist is easy; explaining how to keep access affordable without punishing studios is the debate we actually need.

What do you think?

Do you think a cheaper, less powerful console is an opportunity for more people to play, or a burden that ends up holding back the games you care about? Tell us in the team chat or on our Discord: whose side are you on, Harada's or the Series S's?