Xbox Series S Compared To Switch 2 In Hogwarts Legacy Analysis, And The Results Are Surprising

Nintendo Switch 2 is now out in the wild, and after a month or so on the market, the system has seen mixed results with it when it comes to third-party experiences. While developers like Koei Tecmo recently came out and said that the hybrid console is pretty close to Xbox Series S, the results so far haven’t always matched up – and a new Hogwarts Legacy comparison from Digital Foundry shows the Microsoft console in a much better light than its Nintendo counterpart.

In a detailed analysis on the game’s brand-new port, DF showcases the Harry Potter adventure on both Switch 2 and Series S, while also bringing in some last-gen PS4 comparisons as well. As it turns out, the new Switch 2 version is much closer to Sony’s last-gen system than Microsoft’s all-digital Xbox – at least with Hogwarts Legacy.

Here are some summarising thoughts from the DF team on how all the systems stack up:

“The current-gen console versions — even represented by the relatively weak Series S — clear the Switch 2 by some margin. Despite its smaller RAM pool, the Series S packs higher quality assets, and has a broad range of settings upgrades across the board. I don’t think gamers necessarily expected Switch 2 to match Microsoft’s junior current-gen console, but it does fall behind by some margin.”

While the hybrid nature of Switch 2 has never made Xbox Series S a direct competitor, it’s certainly the closest current-gen console, so we’re quite surprised to see such a big gap in quality here. The Switch 2 version is a major upgrade over Switch 1, but Series S clearly still provides a much more up-to-date experience in the tech department.

Anyway, we just thought this a pretty interesting comparison – and it really does showcase just how good value an Xbox Series S console is in the current market. Having said that, Switch 2 is still an exciting bit of kit, and we sincerely hope Microsoft continues to support the system beyond its first release coming later this month.