Xbox One owners won’t necessarily be able to play everything that’s launching with the Xbox Series X, Microsoft has revealed. The Xbox Series X will feature extensive backwards compatibility and there looks to be a lot of crossover between the two consoles’ libraries, but cross-generation play won’t be a requirement for new games.
The upcoming launch of the next console generation has a lot of hurdles to get over, from disruptions due to the novel coronavirus outbreak to confusion over exactly how the new consoles will differ from existing ones. While the specs of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are impressive, they don’t seem to represent the leap in power that previous console generations have represented. To make its console look more attractive, Microsoft has pushed backward compatibility for older games and promised players free Xbox Series X upgrades for cross-generation games that they purchase on Xbox One.
With all the emphasis on being able to play the same games on both the older and newer Xbox consoles, it’s no wonder that some players expected the Xbox Series X launch library to be playable on the Xbox One. That idea has even led to some concerns that Xbox Series X games will be held back by developers needing to make them work on the older console. In a statement that’s both reassuring and disappointing, Xbox partner director of program management Jason Ronald told Eurogamer that developers will have a choice on whether they bring their games to both consoles, but emphasized that Microsoft has made developing for Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC simultaneously as easy as possible.
Of course no one was expecting that every Xbox Series X game released throughout its lifetime would be playable on the Xbox One, but Microsoft previously announced that all of its own games would be cross-gen for at least a year. The lack of clarity on next-gen exclusives and backward compatibility likely gave the impression that the entire launch library would be available cross-generation. According to Ronald, psychological horror game The Medium will be one of the first Xbox Series X exclusive games.
While it does seem like developers will be able to take better advantage of the Xbox Series X’s unique features even at launch, Xbox One players who don’t plan on upgrading just yet may be disappointed. Especially with the launch of the next console generation coming at such a time of global insecurity, it’s likely that a lot of players had hoped to keep playing on their current consoles as long as possible before shelling out for a new one.
Source: Eurogamer