'Thousands Of Games' Are Backward Compatible For The Xbox Series X At Launch

Microsoft is banking hard on its massive backlog of titles across several console generations, and it may just pay off big time for the Xbox Series X.
Microsoft details the Xbox Series X's extensive backwards compatibility in a new Xbox Wire post.
Microsoft details the Xbox Series X's extensive backwards compatibility in a new Xbox Wire post. Microsoft

According to a blog post from tech-giant Microsoft, the Xbox Series X will be the most compatible console in video game history, and apparently, they have the numbers to back it up.

"With more than 100,000 hours of play testing already completed, thousands of games are already playable on Xbox Series X today, from the biggest blockbusters to cult classics and fan favorites. Many of us in Team Xbox play on the Xbox Series X daily as our primary console and switching between generations is seamless," Jason Ronald, who is Director of Program Management for Xbox Series X, wrote in an Xbox Wire post. "By the time we launch this holiday, the team will have spent well over 200,000 hours ensuring your game library is ready for you to jump in immediately."

The main takeaways from this is that the Xbox Series X will be able to play these old games much better than their previous gen counterparts, as well as adding new features such as HDR and many more.

“Backwards compatible games run natively on the Xbox Series X hardware, running with the full power of the CPU, GPU and the SSD. No boost mode, no downclocking, the full power of the Xbox Series X for each and every backward compatible game," Ronald continued in the post. "This means that all titles run at the peak performance that they were originally designed for, many times even higher performance than the games saw on their original launch platform, resulting in higher and more steady framerates and rendering at their maximum resolution and visual quality.” Other notable improvements include faster load times thanks to the Xbox Series X’s NVME SSD. It also guarantees that a whole new class of innovations will be coming the Xbox Series X’s way, which can double the frame rate of select titles from 30 fps to 60 fps or 60 fps to 120 fps.

The key point of this blog post is clear: now that Holiday 2020 is edging closer and closer, Microsoft wants to make it evident that the Xbox Series X is the better choice over the PlayStation 5. Rumors have shown that hardware wise, the Xbox Series X comes out on top. Content wise, this backwards compatibility feature provides the Xbox Series X with a much-needed boost in that department.

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