What you need to know
- Today, Microsoft revealed its vision for the future of gaming.
- The highlight was that Project xCloud game streaming would be bundled with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
- All non-Kinect Xbox One games will also be playable on Xbox Series X at launch.
- The console is expected to hit retailers in Holiday 2020.
Today, Microsoft provided more details about its vision for Xbox Series X. While the highlight of the announcement was the reveal that Project xCloud game streaming would be part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, some other promises are also quite important. For example, Xbox head Phil Spencer said that the company wants to make all Xbox One games that don't require Kinect to be playable on Xbox Series X.
You can read part of the press release we received below that discusses how backward compatibility on Xbox Series X will work.
Your games will not be left behind, thanks to backward compatibility. You will be able to play four generations of games on Xbox Series X on day one. That makes it the largest launch lineup for any new console ever, with thousands of games to play. Our backward compatibility engineers have spent years devising innovative ways for modern, next-gen technology to make the games library you're building today even better, at no additional cost and with no work from developers. It's our intent for all Xbox One games that do not require Kinect to play on Xbox Series X at the launch of the console. And because of the unprecedented power of Xbox Series X, most of your favorite games will load faster and look and perform many times better on the new console.
For the past few months, we've known that the Xbox Series X wouldn't focus on entertainment like the Xbox One, and for those reasons, it was forgoing Kinect and HDMI-in functionality. This is just another form of confirmation. However, the bigger news has to be how all Xbox One games should work on Xbox Series X at launch, and there won't be a gradual rollout like that discussed by the competition.
It'll last you a couple of months
Xbox Game Pass gives you access to over 200 games for one monthly fee. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate also adds Xbox Live Gold to the package so you can play online with your friends.
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