Xbox Series X could double resolution and frame rate of Xbox One games

Microsoft has shared new details of Xbox Series X backwards compatibility features, including how older games will look and play better on the next-gen console.

As previously reported, Xbox Series X will be backwards compatible with existing Xbox One accessories and games, including backward-compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox titles.

Microsoft has since told Digital Foundry that Xbox Series X has the potential to offer double the resolution and frame rate of Xbox One games, with all the heavy lifting carried out at a system level, meaning no extra work is required by game developers.

“We are exploring ways of improving, maybe, a curated list of games, Peggy Lo, compatibility program lead for Xbox, told the site. “Things we are looking at include improving resolution for games, improving frame-rates – maybe doubling them!”

Digital Foundry witnessed Microsoft demo Gears of War Ultimate Edition, a 1080p game, operating at 4K.

According to the site, Microsoft ATG principle software engineer Claude Marais also showed it how “a machine learning algorithm using Gears 5’s state-of-the-art HDR implementation is able to infer a full HDR implementation from SDR content on any back-compat title”.

The platform holder used Halo 5 and original Xbox title Fusion Frenzy to demo the tech, which is proposed as a system level feature for Xbox Series X.

“It can be applied to all games theoretically, technically, I guess we’re still working through user experiences and things like that but this is a technical demo,” Marais said.

Xbox head Phil Spencer recently confirmed several Xbox Series X features and new details, including 12 teraflops of GPU performance and a cross-buy scheme that will let players buy a game once and play it across multiple Xbox generations.

Xbox series X is scheduled to launch during the 2020 holiday season.