Bandai Namco’s Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections is a massive online arena fighter with over 130 characters to play as. While the game will have a huge online presence, Xbox Series X fans can weirdly choose to cut off Series S players from matchmaking, slicing away a huge chunk of online players.
In a platform comparison form released on the game’s official website, it was revealed that Xbox Series X players can choose not to play with Series S gamers. Despite being two SKUs of the same generation, the more powerful machine can lock off games with those on weaker hardware.
While the Xbox Series X version plays at 60fps against other Series X players, the game runs at 30fps when playing against Xbox One or Xbox Series S players. This is presumably so Series X players don’t have an advantage against others.
However, framerate advantages on the same console ecosystem have existed since the launch of the PlayStation 4 Pro in 2016. Furthermore, PC players have dealt with huge differences in framerate for decades.
Nevertheless, Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections wants every player on a level playing field, outside of visual clarity via graphics settings and resolution differences. In fact, even PS5 players will have the ability to lock out PS4 gamers in order to keep playing at 60fps in multiplayer.
However, on Xbox Series, many are wondering if this breaks Xbox’s parity clause. On the Xbox Series ecosystem, X and S gamers must have the same gameplay features available to them. This is why Larian’s massively popular Baldur’s Gate 3 is delayed on Xbox Series consoles.
From the specs sheet that has been released, only Series X players have the option to turn off matchmaking with other systems. This feature does not appear to be available to Series S users. Where is the line?
In recent weeks, following the Baldur’s Gate debacle, some Xbox Series X players have started to complain about the console’s parity clause. While most seem perfectly fine with the rules, others believe they are being unjustly punished despite buying a more powerful console.
Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections releases on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PS4 and PS5 on November 17th, 2023.