As gamers, we know how important it is to preserve and respectyour gaminglegacy.We believe your favorite games and franchises, your progression and achievements,yourXbox Onegaming accessoriesand the friendships and communities you create through gaming should all move with you across generations.We also fundamentally believe that not only should you be able to play all of your games from the past without needing to purchase them again, but they should alsolook,feelandplaybetteronthe next generation of Xbox consoles.Preservingand improving the thousands of games you know and love, or have yet to discover, has been a core objectivesince the beginning of the backward compatibility program in 2015, and with years of learnings and successes– and over 500,000 hours of gameplay testingacross four generations of Xboxin the last year alonegetting ready for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S–we couldn’t be more proudof the results you will be able to experience beginning November 10.
Games play best on Xbox Series X and Series S
Backward compatible games run natively on theXbox Series X and S, running with the full power of the CPU, GPU and SSD. No boost mode, no downclocking, the full power of theconsolesfor each and every backward compatible game. This means that all titles run at the peak performance that they were originally designed for,with significantlyhigher performance than their original launch platform, resulting in higher and more steady framerates and rendering at their maximum resolution and visual quality. Backward compatible titles alsobenefit fromsignificant reductions in load timesdue tothe massive leap in performance from our custom NVME SSDat the heart ofthe Xbox Velocity Architecture.
Auto HDRfor everyone
Modern gamesoftenimplement high dynamic range (HDR) to improveoverallvisual quality. HDR allows a game to render a much larger range of brightnessvaluesandcolors. This gives an extra sense of richness and depth to the image when compared to a standard dynamic range (SDR) image. For example, the light from a flashlight looksmuch brighter and red flowerslook muchmore vibrant.
However, thousands of Xbox games shipped before HDR wasfirstintroducedwithXboxOneS, andevenfor some Xbox One games, developers simply didn’t have the development resources or time to implement HDR.WithXbox Series Xand SeriesSweareintroducinga new featurenamedAutoHDR. AutoHDR automatically adds HDRenhancementsto games whichonlyshipped with SDR.Auto HDRenhancesthe visual quality of an SDR game without changing the original artistic intent of the game. AutoHDR is implementedbythesystem sodevelopersdon’t have to do any work to take advantage ofthisfeature. Also, sinceAuto HDRis enabled bythe console’s hardware, there is absolutely no performance costtothe CPU,GPUor memory andthere is noadditionallatencyaddedensuring youreceivethe ultimate gaming experience.
The below imagesshowhow AutoHDR can improve the visual quality without changing the overall look of the game.The HDR imagesarebrighter and more colorful only in the naturally expected areas, while the rest of the imageretains its originalintent.
Amazinginnovations for someof the classics
By the timethe new Xbox consoleslaunch this November, the team will have spent well over500,000 hoursof gameplay across the entire backward compatibility catalog to ensure your experience is the best possible, no matter which game is your favorite.Beyond the improvementsall backward compatible games will see due to increased hardware performance, our team of backward compatibility engineers continue to innovate and push the limits of game preservation and enhancement to make your current game librarylook and playeven better, at no additional cost and with no work from developers while still respecting the artistic intent and vision of the original creators.
Newtechnologyto doubleframerates
Xbox Series XandXboxSeriesS bring next-gen performance to your favorite games. Higher,steadierframerates make games feel smoother, resulting in more immersive gameplay. Many improvements are the result of the custom designedprocessorthat allows compatible games to play and leverage the increased CPU, GPU and memory from the new consoles. In additionhowever, thebackwardcompatibilityteamhas developednew methods foreffectively doubling theframerate on select titles.While not applicable for many titlesdue to the game’s original physics or animations,these new techniquesthe team has developedcanpushgame engines to render more quicklyfor a buttery smooth experiencebeyondwhat the original game might have delivered due to the capabilities ofthehardware.Fallout 4framerate,shown below,is effectively doubled from 30fps to 60fps onXboxSeries S, delivering a new way topreserve andenjoythis legendary title.
Enhancedvisualsyou have to see to believe
On the Xbox One, we were able to provide a curated list of titles that were enhanced for the Xbox One X via the Heutchy method. This allowed titlesfrom Xbox 360 thatrenderedat720pand original Xbox games that ran at 360ptoplay at4K on Xbox One X, well beyond the capabilities of their original platform. The Heutchy method continues to be used to bringa variety oftitles to 1440p on Xbox Series S and 4K on Xbox Series X.
Improved texture filtering is also coming tobackward compatibletitlesonbothXbox Series Xand SeriesS.On Xbox One X, a portion of the catalog benefited from increased anisotropic filtering, improving image quality of games. On Xbox Series XandXboxSeriesS,16x anisotropic filteringhas been enabledfornearlyallbackward compatibletitlesso you can experience theverybest visuals the games have to offer.
Delivering on our promise
Thebackwardcompatibilityteam has been working hard to make all the games you love and remember available to you on Xbox Series Xand SeriesS.Playingthe games will be just as easyand magicalasit’salways been.Simply insert your favoritebackwardcompatible Xbox One, Xbox 360 or original Xbox disc into your Xbox Series X, install the game,andyou’llbe ready to play.Yourdigital librarywillinstantlyappearandready for download on the console when you signin.If you’ve already installed your games to an external drive, you can bring that with you to the Xbox Series X andXboxSeries S.Thisall happens withnoadditional costto you.And, with cloud saves, you’ll jump right back in where you left off. For those of you stillenjoyingXbox 360, cloud saveswillsoon be freeto all Xbox 360 users, making transferring your favorite gamestoXbox Series X andXboxSeries S eveneasier.
Preserving the games of our pastisfundamentaltoour DNAat Xbox and our continued promise to you.Backward compatibilitylets youexperienceyour cherished gaming memoriesagain and in new ways. Your favorite games retain everything the original developer intended, while experiencing enhancements and exciting new features. There’s no need to look back, because your games are ready to move forward with you to the next generation ofXbox.
