5 things the next Xbox console needs to get right with backwards compatibility
We know that Microsoft is hard at work on its next Xbox console, which Xbox president Sarah Bond has claimed will be “delivering the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation.” And while I’ve little doubt that the next Xbox console will impress when it comes to cutting-edge visuals, it’s what the company is planning for its prior generations that has me most intrigued.
Bond also recently confirmed, via internal emails, that Xbox has “formed a new team dedicated to game preservation,” which suggests that the company will continue to embrace one of its strongest suits: backwards compatibility. Xbox has always been impressive on this front, offering genuinely forward-thinking features like performance-boosting patches and Xbox Cloud Gaming compatibility with a handful of games.
But there’s always more that can be done to cement Xbox as the go-to platform for backwards compatibility. Here are five things I want to see the next Xbox console achieve for backwards compatibility improvements going forward.
Continued support for Xbox Series and Xbox One games
Right now, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles offer backwards compatibility for the vast majority of the last-generation Xbox One library. That goes for physical discs and digital copies of the games via the Microsoft Store.
Granted, supporting the previous generation now seems to have become the industry standard; we also see Sony offering full compatibility for PS4 games on the PlayStation 5. So, I’m confident that this is something we’ll also see going into the next generation of consoles. However, while Xbox will likely offer backwards compatibility for Series X titles, I’d like to see Xbox One games maintain a presence, especially ones that haven’t received an enhanced current-gen patch.
A wider selection of classic, older games
There’s a very good selection of Xbox 360 and original Xbox games currently available via backwards compatibility. However, we haven't seen that many new arrivals added in the last couple of years, which Microsoft has chalked up to licensing issues.
That said, there are still plenty of classic Xbox games that never found a presence on Xbox Series consoles or Xbox One. Off the top of my head, legendary Xbox games like Jet Set Radio Future, Forza Motorsport 4, and Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online Edition never got the call-up to being hosted on current-gen systems.
I’d love to see Xbox redouble its efforts on this front and feature even more classic Xbox titles on its next console. The current roster is extremely impressive, so casting the net out a bit wider will go a long way to get the Xbox brand back into gamers’ good books.
More enhanced/FPS boost versions
One of the most impressive features Xbox brought to backwards-compatible games this generation was the enhancement patches. These are incredibly substantial, offering higher resolutions and framerates for many titles that were previously locked to 30fps or were perhaps a little too ambitious for the hardware of the time.
For example, Sonic Unleashed on Xbox Series X is the definitive way to play this much-loved entry. On the console, it runs at a near-flawless 60fps at 4K resolution; that’s a far cry from the sub-30fps performance found on its native hardware. And as the game never got an official PC port, the fact a superior version is available on Xbox Series consoles is extremely laudable.
There are plenty of others that have received this treatment too. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13, Mirror’s Edge, and the Gears of War series among many others are better than ever thanks to these enhancement patches, and it’s something we’re just not seeing on competing hardware apart from games that are lucky enough to receive quality remasters or remakes.
Have more classic games available through streaming
Sometimes I feel like the Xbox Cloud Gaming service doesn’t often get the praise it deserves. Available through the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription tier, it offers much of that Game Pass library via cloud streaming, with no need to download and making them playable on devices like phones, tablets and even your web browser.
There are some Xbox 360 and original Xbox games hosted on Xbox Cloud Gaming. However, these are typically games from either Xbox Game Studios or Electronic Arts (as part of EA Play). That’s excellent for folks who want to play the Dragon Age series on the go, but it’d be fantastic to expand Xbox Cloud Gaming support to many more backwards compatible games.
What’s more, such games are likely to burden streaming performance much less overall, allowing those of you who enjoy streaming via mobile a wider library of classic games to experience on the go.
Achievements for original Xbox games
Lastly, while admittedly not essential to the future of Xbox backwards compatibility, I think it’d be very neat for Microsoft to start introducing achievements to original Xbox games. Achievements could add a whole new dimension of play to classic Xbox titles like The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Crimson Skies and Panzer Dragoon Orta.
Sony has done this a few times for pre-PS3 titles available through PS Plus’s retro catalogue. These include PS1 classics like Ape Escape, Jumping Flash, Syphon Filter, and Everybody’s Golf. It’s clearly something that’s doable, then. While a little frivolous, perhaps, this could potentially encourage familiar players to return to classics to capture fond gaming moments in time or for modern achievement chasers to try out games for the first time.
