We already know all the technical details of the Xbox Series X, but that doesn’t mean that everything about Microsoft’s upcoming console has already been revealed. Little by little additional details are revealed, such as gameplay of some games, and now an important detail about how past-generation games will run and be seen on the new-generation console is confirmed, in anticipation of their arrival.
The Xbox Series X will be able to run Xbox 360 and original Xbox games at 120 fps and in HDR, the company reveals on its blog. Jason Roland, Director of Program Management for Xbox Series X, explains that Microsoft plans to add automatic support for HDR in the games of its new console, but the important thing is that Microsoft is also working to add this support in games of past generations, as well how to double the framerate of the games, going from 30 fps to 60 fps and from 60 fps to 120 fps.
New life to old games
This will be possible thanks to an HDR reconstruction technique that “allows the platform to automatically add support for this technology in games.” says Roland. This improvement is applicable to Xbox 360 and original Xbox games, without impacting their performance, giving new life to games developed almost 20 years ago.
Another important detail is that Roland ensures that all these improvements are at the platform level, that is, the games do not need adjustments or extra work from their developers to take advantage of the graphic improvements that Microsoft promises in the Xbox Series X.
HDR support and framerate boost will only be available for a select group of previous-generation titles, with a commitment to “respect and maintain the creators’ vision,” of which Roland does not provide details. However, it ensures that the development team listens to requests from the Xbox community to select the games that will be compatible with these improvements.
The executive does not reveal details of how this technology works, but it is said that Microsoft could simply apply rescaling and content processing, as it happens on Apple TV 4K. However, he assures that he will share more details near the official launch of the Xbox Series X.
This is all part of Microsoft’s commitment to backward compatibility of games with its new console. Roland says that “thousands of games [from previous generations] are playable on the Xbox Series X”, seeking to ensure the generational leap from day one. In addition, we can not forget the promise of games for the next generation in 4K at 120 fps and with ray tracing, as part of the strategy of Microsoft and Xbox to stand up to Sony and its PS5 with Unreal Engine 5, and of which we could know more details next week.
