The Xbox Series X is already leading the race in terms of backwards compatibility, but Microsoft is promising to go even further than that.
On top of offering the entire Xbox One library, as well as some Xbox 360 titles and original Xbox titles, Microsoft is planning on enhancing the way these games are played, according to Jason Ronald, Director of Program Management for Xbox Series X.
- See the best PC games and best Xbox Game Pass PC games to play now
- Check out the Xbox Series X games and PS5 games confirmed so far
- This is what we know about the Xbox Series X and PS5 so far
Backwards-compatible games on Xbox Series X
"Not only should gamers be able to play all of these games from the past, but they should play better than ever before," Ronald wrote in an Xbox Write blog post. "Backwards-compatible games run natively on the Xbox Series X hardware, running with the full power of the CPU, GPU and the SSD."
That means you'll be able to run all of your backwards-compatible games at peak performance. Xbox even found that the games run at higher frames at maximum resolution and visual quality. The custom NVMe SSD also allowed the games to load significantly faster.
"We are also creating whole new classes of innovations including the ability to double the frame rate of a select set of titles from 30 fps to 60 fps or 60 fps to 120 fps," Ronald adds.
Xbox didn't stop there. In partnership with the Xbox Advanced Technology Group, the Xbox Series X will be able to automatically add HDR support to games with zero impact on the game's performance. This will be applied to Xbox 360 games as well as original Xbox titles.
Additionally, the Quick Resume feature, which allows you to suspend multiple games at once, will be enabled with backwards compatible games.
Just imagine playing an original Xbox title or Xbox 360 game at 4K, 120 fps with HDR mode on. That's pretty badass. Hopefully, the PS5 will be investing in its older libraries in a similar fashion.
