Xbox Series X backward compatibility explained

The next-generation Xbox Series X is a powerful new entry in the Xbox family of consoles, and current-gen Xbox gamers need not worry. Amidst the wealth of information revealed today, Microsoft revealed how Xbox Series X backward compatibility works on the next-gen console. 

With the new powerful specifications and SSD technology, the new-and-improved next-generation console will allow current-gen and previous-gen games to run faster with “improved boot and load times, more stable frame rates, higher resolutions and improved image quality.”

Microsoft has revealed that the backward compatibility team that worked so hard to bring hundreds of games to Xbox One are already working on creating “entirely new techniques and innovation that we can use to further enhance the existing catalog of games when running on Xbox Series X.”

Not only are games just running on Xbox Series X backward compatibility but everything from those current generation will work on your next-gen consoles. Xbox One hardware– first and third party – will be natively compatible through the use of Xbox Series X backward compatibility.

Your hardware, games, save files, account and more will all move forward into the next generation, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be isolated from friends like back in 2013. While games like Titanfall and Call of Duty would be locked to specific generations for mulyiplayer, Xbox Series X cross generation play will keep everyone together.

Of course, some games like Cyberpunk 2077 will not just be backward compatible, but they’ll use the additional hardware to provide better performance, visuals and more.

A Digital Foundry video revealed that a quick two-week unoptimised port of Gears 5 to the Xbox Series X showed the console trading blows with the PC version running on an RTX 2080.