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Microsoft hasn't exactly been shy about its upcoming successor to Xbox One. From an early announcement at E3 2018 that a new console was in development, to a partial reveal at this year's show, players have known the next generation of gaming was inbound for a while.
That foreknowledge made the full reveal of Xbox Series X at The Game Awards last night perhaps a little anticlimactic – after all, when someone does exactly what they've said they'll do, it's no great surprise. What was unexpected though was the focus on backwards compatibility, with plans for Xbox Series X to be capable of playing games dating back to the original Xbox that launched in 2001.
Again, Microsoft had previously discussed this to an extent, and scaled back its Xbox One backwards-compatibility program this summer to work on bringing the functionality to the then-codenamed Project Scarlett. What is striking though is just how deeply this all-powerful new console is relying on the past – and that could be a deciding factor in determining the next-gen console wars.
In a blog post, Microsoft's head of Xbox Phil Spencer says, "Xbox Series X will be our fastest, most powerful console ever and set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility, allowing you to bring your gaming legacy, thousands of games from three generations and more forward with you."
That Microsoft is leaning so hard on the Xbox Series X's ability to play games dating back decades, with the new hardware still a year off from release, is telling. It shows that Microsoft recognises that Xbox is now a legacy brand, with a generation of gamers having grown up around its consoles. Many of those players will be collectors, too, or at least still have a hefty amount of older games lining their shelves that they may want to return to. By establishing early on that you'll be able to play your Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games on the next Xbox, Microsoft keeps them on board.
It also shows Microsoft may have learned lessons its main competitor Sony seems to have forgotten. When the PlayStation 2 first launched, backwards compatibility with original PlayStation titles was critical to its success – on day one, players had a library of games they could continue to play while the new generation built its own portfolio.
When the PlayStation 3 debuted, though, this factor started to diminish – although the earliest PS3 units could play PS2 games, the functionality was soon dropped, one of several reasons the PS3 struggled to match its predecessor. PS4 abandoned backwards compatibility entirely, although by making the system easier for developers to create for, it managed to win back players with a software suite that rapidly expanded from the console's launch.
Yet still, PlayStation-centric gamers who grew up with the brand have to keep three or even four generations of hardware on hand if they want to return to old favourites. For Xbox Series X, players will be able to keep their entertainment centres smart with a single unit that will play an original Xbox game as easily as it will the latest release. It's a compelling pitch.
Of course, Sony may be reawakening to the demand to retain access to older titles. In the exclusive reveal of the upcoming PlayStation 5 with WIRED US, lead system architect Mark Cerny revealed it too will have backwards compatibility, although it seems at the moment only for PS4 titles (because the PS5 is partly based on PS4 architecture). Rumours persist that the PS5 will also offer multiple generations of backwards compatibility, but for now that's all they are: rumours. What's currently concrete is that PS5 will play two consoles' worth of games, Xbox Series X will play four. Again, a persuading argument for Microsoft to make to potential consumers.
What's less clear is exactly how this backwards compatibility will be delivered, or if it will extend to every game in the console family's back catalogue. On Xbox One, compatibility has been added on a per-game basis, with software patches and emulation allowing playback of older discs. That could continue for Series X, meaning the volume of titles playable day one may not be quite so voluminous.
On the flipside, when Microsoft has added compatibility for older titles on Xbox One, customers find any digital games they bought on Xbox 360 that have received the treatment immediately appear in their download libraries. Imagine turning on your Series X on day one and finding dozens of titles sitting there ready to play – it's a rather wonderful thought.
This "buy once, own forever" approach also allows Microsoft to take aim at the recently launched games streaming service Stadia. Google's offering is struggling to build a library, and so far what's there are largely older games many players will have played elsewhere. Stadia is also a cloud service, utterly dependent on an internet connection. If Microsoft is canny, it will capitalise on this and strongly pitch the potential alignment between Series X and Project xCloud – Microsoft's own game streaming platform. The result could be the best of both worlds, with your personal software library playable anywhere, online through the cloud when you're on the move or offline at home on Series X.
Perhaps best of all for retro gamers is Microsoft retaining a disc drive. While the monolithic design of Xbox Series X is certainly unorthodox – essentially a PC tower, which is fundamentally what most Xbox consoles have been in terms of internal hardware, but now it looks the part – the ability to continue playing physical media further opens the doors to a massive library for players on the day of release. It even dodges some of the problems with digital distribution, where rights issues can see titles disappearing from online storefronts on occasion. If you still have a physical disc, the game is yours.
It's almost ironic that the Series X is such a powerful console – purportedly four times as powerful as Xbox One X, capable of 4K visuals in 60fps, potential for 8K and 120fps, and packs in ray-tracing as standard – and yet in terms of reaching players, Microsoft's biggest ace for the next Xbox is in remembering all the ones it replaces.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
