Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 was one of the most refreshing releases in 2025 because it’s generally regarded as a well-optimized game. The secret for running so well and looking so good, however, lies in the weakest link of video game console hardware, namely Xbox Series S, according to one of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2‘s developers.
Tobias Stolz-Zwilling, Warhorse Studios’ internal PR manager, has recently sat down with Iron Lords Podcast in an interview where the developer revealed one of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2‘s ingredients for success. Tobias Stolz-Zwilling aka Sir Tobi, stated that working on making the game viable for the Xbox Series S has actually had a domino effect, further improving Kingdom Come Deliverance 2‘s optimization on other gaming hardware.
Hence, despite being the weakest for this generation of console and PC gaming hardware, the Xbox Series S has been one of the biggest factors for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2‘s optimization. Here’s Sir Tobi’s exact explanation as to how the old console helped:
“The optimizations also for the Xbox Series S helped [the other] platforms greatly… Well, of course, it’s the weakest of the four. That’s not even a secret but since you have to dial down a few things and have to be clever about what you can in the programming and the code and so on to be able to save memory, some of these optimizations benefit the other consoles as well.
You can either go full-force with the big ones or you use those memory savings that you found out for the Xbox Series S for the bigger ones so it runs better,” explains Sir Tobi.
It’s quite a surprising development insight because the general sentiment among the gaming community (particularly PC gamers), is that weaker consoles are holding back optimization and graphics. Warhorse Studios’ more considerate development method for Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 has led to one of the best-optimized games as of late.
Here’s the full podcast for those interested:
It also helped that the game doesn’t force ray tracing, which is still one of the most demanding graphical technologies for gaming. Of course, the Xbox Series S being a weaker gaming hardware also could’ve contributed to that decision.
All Modern Games Should Strive to Have Kingdom Come Deliverance 2’s Optimization
Sadly, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is an outlier for video game optimization. Some of the more recent video games released in 2025 (or to be released this month) either force ray tracing or rely too much on upscaling and frame generation to achieve playable framerates.
Monster Hunter Wilds, for example, has worried many players after its updated system requirements called for frame generation to achieve a stable 60 FPS on lower resolutions, something that isn’t the optimal usage for the tech. Some players have even accused the developers of foregoing actual optimization and slapping on an upscaling or frame generation requirement.
Generally, upscaling and frame generation are still frowned upon in the PC gaming community because they could introduce input latency or lag since both techs use AI to draw pixel interpretations instead of actual pixels (so-called fake frames). Ideally, upscaling and frame generation are only viable for use above 60 FPS to eliminate input latency, but lately, they’ve become a crutch for poorly optimized games.
