Microsoft's newest consoles, the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, have both recently released. While the consoles seemed to launch smoothly, there are still some questions users have about them. This is pretty standard for new video game consoles, since there's a lot to get used to. One of these issues concerns making sure users are really playing the next-gen (now current gen) versions of their games.
The Xbox Series X|S is backwards compatible with almost every past Xbox game. Through the Xbox Game Pass programs, users can even have access to a wide range of games they may not personally own. These are some of the major selling points for Microsoft's newest consoles, but it can lead to a little bit of confusion.
Both the Xbox Series X and Series S can upscale cross-gen Xbox games to run them smoothly in 4K and with ray tracing. Through Xbox's Smart Delivery feature, users are able to get the latest versions of their favorite games. This is great, but it can also mean the Xbox Series X|S may end up running an older version of the game instead - which means no ray tracing or 4K support. Thankfully, there's an easy way to make sure people are playing the next-gen version of a game.
How To Optimize Games For Xbox Series X|S
Both the Xbox Series X and Series S allow users to change their settings and optimize games for the new consoles. To do this, players must first hit the Xbox button on their controllers to bring up the home menu. From there, they will need to navigate to "My Games and Apps." Alternatively, this icon can be found on the Xbox dashboard.
Once inside the "My Games and Apps" menu, users will need to go to the Games tab and then select Filter. The Filter tab is found along the top row, next to the magnifying glass icon for Search. Clicking on the Filter tab will bring up a variety of options, but all that needs to be done is switching the games filter from "All Console Types" to "Optimized for Xbox Series X|S Games." It's a fairly easy fix that isn't nearly as serious as the PlayStation 5's game confusion problem.
Once this is completed, games that can be optimized for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will be. It ensures they're running optimally, and that users are actually playing the newest version of the game. It's a pretty simple fix, and it only takes a few seconds to do.