Today, it’s Microsoft’s turn to talk about backward compatibility on their next-gen console. Just as expected, the Xbox Series X|S will support native playback of thousands of legacy titles from previous Xbox generations.
Last week, Sony took on the challenge of explaining the extent of backward compatibility on the PlayStation 5. It cleared pretty much all questions and even went into great detail about how upgrading both digital and physical games will work.
Now, Microsoft is diving into the topic. But unlike Sony, Microsoft didn’t go into the minutia of that feature. So, don’t expect a list of incompatible games. Still, it’s great for Xbox users to get new information all the while.
As is the case with the PS5, backward compatibility on the Xbox Series X|S supports thousands of Xbox One games. On top of that, many compatible titles from the Xbox 360 and original Xbox will also work on next-gen.
Xbox Series X|S owners can look forward to not only playing classics but experience them in much greater fidelity. Auto HDR aims to deliver better colors by using modern TV features on old games. Higher resolutions across the board will further deliver essentially free remasters. The Series S will go for 1440p while the Series X aims for full 4K.
But that’s not all. Even the performance of certain games will improve thanks to backward compatibility. To demonstrate this, Xbox is showing Fallout 4 running on 60fps on the Xbox Series S. This is a huge improvement over the original’s 30fps lock.
Last but not least, Microsoft promises that this will work just as easy as putting your old game discs into the Xbox Series X|S. Your digital library will instantly be available on the new consoles. And in case you have games already installed on external drives, rest assured that these will work on the new systems without any trouble. As will Cloud Saves.
All in all, very good news for users who want to move their existing library into the future thanks to backward compatibility.
