Xbox has been working on backward compatibility for Xbox Series X and S games since 2016
Backward compatibility has been a top priority for Xbox over the past few years. And as it turns out, it has been in development for next-gen consoles since 2016. Jason Ronald, director of program management for Xbox, told Inverse about this.
“We’ve been working on Xbox Series X and Series S since 2016. Before we even had a processor, we took performance data from existing games and ran them on a next-generation chip simulator. This allowed us to identify potential problems with the process or even before it was produced. At each iteration, we checked to see if the games were working. Then we looked at how to improve some of them. This is where technologies like Auto HDR came from, ” Ronald said.
Jason Ronald also shared details of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S backward compatibility testing process.
“Last year we ran tests that could take 16 to 24 hours for a single game. We had a whole army of testers, about 500 people, who went through all the games in order of priority. If they found problems, our Backward Compatibility team would fix them without developer involvement. We have a responsibility to ensure that these games continue to work, ”he said.
The Xbox Director of Program Management also confirmed that there will be more Xbox 360 and Original Xbox games in the future Xbox Game Pass catalog that are compatible with modern consoles. However, the team may run into licensing issues.
“Some of the problems are technical, but more often they come down to licensing,” said Ronald. – In some cases, the developer or publisher no longer exists. Even tracking down who we need any permissions from can be very difficult. ”
Xbox Series X and S will go on sale on November 10.
