Windows 10: Everything You Need to Know about Xbox Series X and The Future of Xbox

Brink · Jun 11, 2020

Summary

As we launch into a new generation of gaming with Xbox Series X, we see a future where youâre instantly absorbed in your games and worlds are even more lifelike, immersive, responsive, and surprising. This detailed post contains everything weâve shared so far about Xbox Series X and the future of Xbox. Keep this post bookmarked; weâll update here as we make more announcements over time.

Xbox Series X, the most powerful gaming console, empowers developers to deliver on their creative visions and dreams. It packs an unprecedented 12 teraflops of GPU power and enables new technologies and features like hardware-accelerated Direct X raytracing, variable rate shading, framerates up to 120 fps, and Quick Resume for multiple games, all of which cumulatively will deliver a new level of fidelity, immediacy, precision and accuracy never before seen in console gaming.

Xbox Series X is now in the hands of our 15 Xbox Game Studios teams and the biggest names from our network of game development and publishing studios worldwide, ensuring Xbox Series X will power a new generation of blockbuster games, like Halo Infinite. Additionally, weâre empowering you to play thousands of games at launch because we believe strongly in delivering compatibility across four generations of Xbox and we know you want this too.

Importantly, more than 80% of console gamers also play on PC and mobile. Thatâs why weâre building out services like Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Live and Project xCloud across console, PC, and mobile so you and your friends can play and discover your next great adventures together â on any device. All of this is part of our commitment to give you the greatest gaming experiences and more value from your games.

Players are at the center of our vision for gaming. Every day we think about giving you and your friends more value from your games and gaming experiences on Xbox. We believe gaming has the power to unify the world through gamesâbut only if itâs accessible and inclusive of everyone.

MORE IMMERSIVE AND RESPONSIVE GAMES FROM THE WORLDâS MOST POWERFUL CONSOLE

The Xbox Series X will be the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ktN4bycj9s&t=3s for players who want the most immersive games from a device designed, built and optimized for gaming with zero compromises. Powered by our next generation, custom designed processor including an 8 core Zen 2 CPU, delivering more than 4x the processing power of an Xbox One, and a 12 TFLOP RDNA 2 GPU, more than 8x the performance of the original Xbox One, Xbox Series X will enable a new level of visual fidelity and immersion. Pair that with the highest bandwidth GDDR6 memory of any next generation console, and a custom, next generation solid state drive (SSD), Xbox Series X will provide developers the power to push their creative visions to the limit. With next generation innovations including DirectX hardware-accelerated raytracing, variable refresh rate and ultra-low latency input, Xbox Series X sets the stage for a new level of fidelity, precision and accuracy never before seen in console gaming.

The bold and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tUqIHwHDEc industrial design enables us to deliver the most powerful console in the quietest and most efficient way, enabling it to fit seamlessly into your home. The Xbox Series X is also designed to support both vertical and horizontal orientation.

The new Xbox Wireless Controller features improved ergonomics for a wider range of people, better cross-device connectivity, and reduced latency. It also features a new Share button to make capturing screenshots and game clips simple and a new hybrid d-pad inspired by the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2. The new Xbox Wireless Controller will be compatible with Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, and will be included with every Xbox Series X.

THE TECHNOLOGY AND SPECS

While technical specifications for any product resonate differently depending on your level of interest and understanding, at Xbox itâs all about the details. In partnership with tech experts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fjn4GRw8qE&t=159s and Digital Foundry, we dove deep into some of the technologies that are powering the Xbox Series X and shared specifics on the choices the team has made when defining the next generation of gaming. Xbox Series X is defined by three primary characteristics: power, speed and compatibility.

Raw power is just part of the beginning

Xbox Series X delivers over 12 TFLOPS of sustained, consistent GPU performance, making it the most powerful console ever. Designed to deliver games in 4K at 60 FPS with support for up to 120 FPS, Xbox Series X represents a superior balance of power and speed with no compromises for developers. Beyond the raw horsepower, the custom designed processor at the heart of Xbox Series X includes brand new innovative capabilities such as Variable Rate Shading (VRS), hardware-accelerated DirectX raytracing, and more, advancing console gaming on all technological fronts to deliver amazing, dynamic, living worlds that players want to be immersed in.

Improving immersion and embracing speed

From how quickly you can move between games, to how long it takes to traverse a huge environment without long loading screens, to being able to resume a game right where you left off instantly, the Xbox Series X is built to enable players to spend less time waiting and more time playing. The Xbox Velocity Architecture â which unlocks a new level of performance through the groundbreaking combination of the next-generation custom SSD, hardware accelerated decompression and deep software integration, to enable richer and more dynamic living worlds unlike anything ever seen before â the Xbox Series X is fast and virtually eliminates load times.

Quick Resume is a new platform feature enabled through the Xbox Velocity Architecture and our custom OS architecture that enables players to resume a game exactly where they left off, across multiple titles, ensuring gamers can get right back to the fun in an instant.

We also know many gamers demand ultra-low latency to be as immersed and precise as possible. With HDMI 2.1 innovation, Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Dynamic Latency Input (DLI), the team analyzed every step between player and game, from controller to console to display, and optimized each stage of the pipeline.

THE WORLDâS MOST-COMPATIBLE CONSOLEâWITH THOUSANDS OF GAMES AT LAUNCH

The benefits of the next console generation extend in every direction, bringing greater visual fidelity and improved loading speeds to your existing games library, in addition to new games specifically optimized to take full advantage of the Xbox Series X. With thousands of games from four generations available at your fingertips from day one, plus the library of over 100 titles available with Xbox Game Pass , weâre continuing our commitment to compatibility with Xbox Series X.

We believe that not only should gamers be able to play all of their games from the past without needing to purchase them again, but they should play better than ever before. Backwards compatible games run natively on the Xbox Series X hardware, running with the full power of the CPU, GPU and the SSD. No boost mode, no downclocking, the full power of the Xbox Series X for each and every backward compatible game. This means that all titles run at the peak performance that they were originally designed for, many times even higher performance than the games saw on their original launch platform, resulting in higher and more steady framerates and rendering at their maximum resolution and visual quality. Backwards compatible titles also see significant reductions in in-game load times from the massive leap in performance from our custom NVME SSD which powers the Xbox Velocity Architecture.

We are also investing in technology that makes game ownership easier across generations. This is especially true with our new Smart Delivery technology, which ensures you only have to purchase a title once, knowing you will get the best version of the title on whatever Xbox console you choose to play on. This will allow players to seamlessly move between multiple consoles and console generations as they see fit. All our exclusive Xbox Game Studios titles that are optimized for Xbox Series X, including Halo Infinite, are committed to using Smart Delivery too. Gamers can have confidence when they purchase games in the Xbox ecosystem that your investments and progression move forward with you to the next generation.

THE MOST IMMERSIVE AND RESPONSIVE GAMES

When a developerâs creativity is backed by the most powerful gaming platform in the world, the possibilities are endless. We know you expect the next generation of consoles to set new standards in graphical fidelity, immersion and performance, converging together in games that look incredible, feel alive and are immediately immersive. We know you want frictionless access, across generations, to new stories and content that surprise and delight in ways you never dreamed imaginable.

We also know you donât want to be cut off from the games and experiences you have invested money and time in for years or are currently playing just because a new generation of consoles has arrived. With the significant leaps in CPU performance, graphics innovation with over 12 teraflops of raw power, next gen storage technology powering our Xbox Velocity Architecture, and technologies delivering the most responsive gameplay experience â not to mention our commitment to backward compatibility and Smart Delivery feature â will make all of these ambitions for games a reality.

We know this firsthand from our own development teams. Xbox Game Studios consists of 15 game development studios around the world, developing and publishing games based on popular franchises like Halo, Forza, Age of Empires, Gears of War, Minecraft, Hellblade, The Outer Worlds, Psychonauts, Microsoft Flight Simulator, State of Decay, Wasteland 3, and Sea of Thieves â and many more new games in early development.

Xbox Game Studios represents an amazing array of creators across the industry who are exploring new ideas and games only possible with Xbox and our technology. Our global studios are empowered to realize their full creative visions and to leverage the power of Xbox Series X to do so. This means a non-stop supply of games for years to come, built from the ground up to capitalize on features like hardware-accelerated DirectX Raytracing, 4K resolution running up to 120fps, and more.

The power of Xbox Series X was first demonstrated with the unveiling of Senuaâs Saga: Hellblade II. The team will be building the game on Unreal 5 and leveraging the power of Xbox Series X to bring the Hellblade franchise to levels never before seen. The https://youtu.be/qJWI4bkD9ZM was captured in-engine and reflects the power of Xbox Series X available to developers to deliver new universes, experiences and games in ways you have never imagined.

Fans also got a sneak peek at a wide variety of Xbox Series X games look like in action from our development partners across the industry including Electronic Arts Madden NFL 21, Bandai Namcoâs Scarlet Nexus, Deep Silverâs Chorus and Ubisoftâs Assassinâs Creed Valhalla. From Xbox Game Pass day-one launches like Scorn, and The Medium running in 4k with DirectX Raytracing only possible with next generation technology to titles supporting Smart Delivery like DiRT 5 and Yakuza: Like a Dragon â in addition to previously confirmed titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 â fans have so much to look forward to when Xbox Series X launches this fall.

Many existing titles will be optimized to take advantage of everything Xbox Series X can do also. For example, the team from The Coalition announced that Gears 5 will have an Xbox Series X Optimized version available at Xbox Series X launch and they will leverage Smart Delivery technology to deliver fans the best version of the game regardless of which Xbox they play on. Gears 5 optimizations will feature improved visuals only possible on Xbox Series X, including higher resolution textures, screen space global illumination, contact shadows and 4K cutscenes running at 60 fps. The team also shared that they are investigating 120 fps gameplay for multiplayer modes, giving players an experience never before seen on consoles. And Gears 5 is just the beginning in terms of titles that will be optimized that will be revealed in the coming months.

The Xbox Series X was built for games beyond players imagination and is unlocking creativity and innovation like never before at our studios and with thousands of development partners across the world. We canât wait to show you 343âs Halo Infinite and more in July.

XBOX SERIES X + XBOX GAME PASS â MORE THAN 100 GAMES, LED BY HALO INFINITE

Xbox Game Pass fundamentally changes how people play games. Think about all the constraints that gaming operates under today. Your games will only play on the device you bought them on and you can only play with your friends if they each buy the same games, too. And every game either requires a big up-front investment or an even bigger investment down the line to access all the content. Xbox Game Pass is changing all that. One low price, a common library of the best games across all your devices for you and your friends on the same plan to enjoy.

More than 10 million members have joined Xbox Game Pass across Xbox and PC. All Xbox Game Studios titles launch into Xbox Game Pass on the same day they release, so you decide whether to purchase each game separately or play them all on launch day on Xbox Game Pass. Xbox Game Studios franchises that will launch into Game Pass day one of release include Halo, Forza, Age of Empires, Gears of War, Minecraft, Hellblade, The Outer Worlds, Psychonauts, Microsoft Flight Simulator, State of Decay, Wasteland, and Sea of Thieves â and more new games in early development. So, when Halo Infinite launches, you and your friends decide whether to purchase the game or play it in Xbox Game Pass.

Weâre also working with giants in the industry to add top games, like NBA 2K20, Red Dead Redemption 2, and The Witcher 3 â which are in Game Pass today. And independent developers and players also love Xbox Game Pass because itâs a powerful engine for discovering your next favorite game.

We continue to grow Xbox Game Pass into the most compelling service in gaming. We want you to discover new games, play favorites with family and friends, and experience new ways to play on the console, PC, and, in the near future, your mobile device. All of this is possible with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. In the fall, youâll have the biggest launch day library of games at your fingertips. Youâll feel the power of Xbox Series X with all these games as they load faster and look even more amazing than they do today.

With Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks, members now regularly receive even more new benefits including DLC, in-game content and more â all free and included with membership.

THE WORLDâS FIRST CONSOLE DESIGNED WITH THE CLOUD IN MIND

With Project xCloud, weâre not just building the most powerful and compatible console, weâre building the fastest, most powerful, and most compatible gaming cloud as well. When it launches later this year, Project xCloud will empower Xbox Game Pass members to play with their friends anywhere, no download required.

Project xCloud will also help us reach the 2 billion gamers in the world â making Xbox more accessible to more players. With game streaming, weâre unlocking the ability to play console games on all types of devices so everyone has the chance to play.

PUTTING YOU AT THE CENTER

Xbox Series Xâthe worldâs most powerful and compatible console, the most immersive and responsive games â including Halo Infinite this holiday, and the combination of Xbox Game Pass and Project xCloud are all converging to create an entirely new future for gamers â a differentiated future that puts you and your friends â not a device â at the center of the Xbox experience.

Xbox is uniquely positioned to deliver on our player-at-the-center inspired vision because weâre deeply committed in the key areas: Console, Content, Community, and Cloud.

We have so much more to share in the coming months.

Until then, stay tuned to Xbox Wire for all the latest on everything Xbox.
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Source: https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/06/...uture-of-xbox/

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Brink · Jun 11, 2020

New Xbox Series X console available Holiday 2020

For eighteen years and three console generations, the Xbox community has shown us the power both games and fun can have on all of us. As we enter a new generation of gaming, we see a future where you’re instantly absorbed in your games – where worlds are even more lifelike, immersive, responsive and surprising – and where you are at the center of your gaming experience. With the new Xbox Series X, we will realize that vision.

Xbox Series X will be our fastest, most powerful console ever and set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility, allowing you to bring your gaming legacy, thousands of games from three generations and more forward with you. Its industrial design enables us to deliver four times the processing power of Xbox One X in the most quiet and efficient way, something that is critically important in delivering truly immersive gameplay. We also designed Xbox Series X to support both vertical and horizontal orientation. It’s bold and unique, very much like our fans around the world and the team of collaborators and innovators who built it.

The name Xbox is an expression of our deep history in gaming, our team’s unrelenting passion, and our commitment to both our fans and the future of gaming at Microsoft. It also signifies our belief that a gaming console should be for just that – gaming.

Alongside Xbox Series X, we also unveiled the new Xbox Wireless Controller. Its size and shape have been refined to accommodate an even wider range of people, and it also features a new Share button to make capturing screenshots and game clips simple and an advanced d-pad derived from the Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller. The new Xbox Wireless Controller will be compatible with Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, and will be included with every Xbox Series X.

The possibilities of what Xbox Series X enables developers to achieve was also brought to life this evening with the unveiling of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. A sequel to the award-winning Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice from world-renowned developers Ninja Theory, the game is being built to leverage the full power of Xbox Series X. The footage shared tonight was captured in-engine and reflects the power of Xbox Series X available to developers to deliver new universes, experiences and games in ways you have never imagined.

Bringing Developers’ Dreams to Life with Xbox Series X

Games today deliver amazing visuals and tell an array of different and deep stories. That’s why, when we started work on Xbox Series X, it was vital we continue to advance state-of-the-art visual capabilities for developers, while also ensuring they could realize even greater feeling, emotion and empathy in their games. With Xbox Series X, we will elevate the way games look, play and feel. We will also remove the technical barriers faced in previous generations and enable developers to create more expansive, immersive gaming worlds that invite more players to play.

From a technical standpoint, this will manifest as world-class visuals in 4K at 60FPS, with possibility of up to 120FPS, including support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and 8K capability. Powered by our custom-designed processor leveraging the latest Zen 2 and next generation RDNA architecture from our partners at AMD, Xbox Series X will deliver hardware accelerated ray tracing and a new level of performance never before seen in a console. Additionally, our patented Variable Rate Shading (VRS) technology will allow developers to get even more out of the Xbox Series X GPU and our next-generation SSD will virtually eliminate load times and bring players into their gaming worlds faster than ever before.

We are minimizing latency by leveraging technology such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and giving developers new functionality like Dynamic Latency Input (DLI) to make Xbox Series X the most responsive console ever. Xbox Series X is also designed for a future in the cloud, with unique capabilities built into the hardware and software to make it as easy as possible to bring great games to both console and elsewhere. Xbox Series X will deliver a level of fidelity and immersion unlike anything that’s been achieved in previous console generations.

One Console, Four Generations of Gaming

One of the things we’re most proud of with Xbox Series X is the promise we’re delivering to our fans who have and continue to invest with Xbox. Thanks to backward compatibility, you can expect your gaming legacy, thousands of your favorite games across four generations of gaming, all your Xbox One gaming accessories, and industry-leading services like Xbox Game Pass to be available when you power on your Xbox Series X in Holiday 2020.

Building on our compatibility promise, with Xbox Series X we’re also investing in consumer-friendly pathways to game ownership across generations. Leading the way with our first-party titles including Halo Infinite in 2020, we’re committed to ensuring that games from Xbox Game Studios support cross-generation entitlements and that your Achievements and game saves are shared across devices. As we branch out and extend gaming to more players around the world, console gaming will remain at the heart of our Xbox offering. Game creators around the globe are already hard at work building content for Xbox Series X and our 15 Xbox Game Studios are developing the largest and most creatively diverse lineup of Xbox exclusive games in our history. On behalf of Team Xbox, we’re excited to enter the future of console gaming with you and can’t wait to share more in 2020.
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Source: Power Your Dreams with Xbox Series X, Available Holiday 2020 - Xbox Wire

See also: Project Scarlett | Xbox

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Brink · Jun 11, 2020

Xbox 20/20: A monthly behind the scenes look into the future of Xbox

What was already going to be a once-in-a-generation year for gaming – a new generation of consoles, a wave of new next-generation games, and the launch of new ways to play with game streaming – 2020 has become the year that challenged us all and tested every commitment we’ve made in the face of COVID-19. Difficult tests tend to reveal your true priorities, and for us they are the health and safety of our employees, our fans and partners. We also want to be transparent in letting our players know what we are doing and what we are thinking during such a crucial time.

Clearly, this year has challenged us to rethink the way we come together to celebrate the important milestones in gaming, and that means working with the knowledge that we may not be able to come together in the same place. Having seen firsthand the resolve of Xbox players, families and friends coming together, doing the right thing and staying home to help flatten the curve, we’ve all felt energized to rethink our approach. How can we share that feeling of excitement and anticipation we all get in gaming’s biggest moments? How could we capture and distribute that feeling I got when I joined Team Xbox – that moment when I got to see what happens next.

So, what is in store for 2020?

This is a momentous year for Xbox, with our next-gen console paving the way for all our games and services to come together in even better ways. Here’s what 2020 looks like, just to start:

Our goal remains to launch Xbox Series X and Halo Infinite this Holiday

All 15 Xbox Game Studios teams are hard at work on next-generation games for Xbox Series X and Xbox Game Pass

The best development teams around the world are working hard to have their games ready to play on Xbox Series X this holiday

For PC players, we plan to support the community by making all our major releases at launch available with Xbox Game Pass for PC, including Halo Infinite, Wasteland 3, Minecraft Dungeons and of course, Microsoft Flight Simulator.

We have new updates and titles lined up for Xbox Game Pass for console and PC

We’re expanding Project xCloud into new countries and on new devices—and later this year Project xCloud and Xbox Game Pass will come together, enabling you and your friends to play together in more ways.

It’s a lot – and that’s saying something in 2020, a year which could be summed up as “a lot.” With all this in mind, we set out to create new touchpoints to celebrate gaming and share what’s next with our global community.

Xbox 20/20

Starting with the May 7 episode of Inside Xbox, we will be showcasing what happens next in the world of Xbox, every month, which is why we’re calling it “Xbox 20/20.” These monthly moments will take place throughout the rest of the year and will be a way for us to engage, connect and celebrate with you about what’s in store for the next generation of gaming, including what’s next for Xbox Series X, Xbox Game Studios, Xbox Game Pass and Project xCloud. Every month will bring something different. Stay tuned to Xbox Wire for more details.

For the Xbox 20/20 May update, we will focus on giving you a first look at next-gen gameplay, trailers and sneak peeks from a wide variety of publishing partners and independent developers across the globe and industry, including Ubisoft’s recently announced Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and hear from game creators about what they’re doing with their games on Xbox Series X.

We’ll be confirming games that utilize our new Smart Delivery feature, which ensures that you always play the best version of the games you own for your console, across generations. And all the games you’ll see will be Xbox Series X Optimized, meaning they are built to take advantage of the powerful Xbox Series X features that make games look and feel incredible, including 4K resolution at up to 120 frames per second, DirectStorage, hardware-accelerated DirectX raytracing, super-fast load times and much more.

In July, we will dedicate time to focus on the incredible games coming from Xbox Game Studios. A number of our studio teams are looking forward to sharing first looks at new gameplay, insights from development teams being optimized for Xbox Series X, and brand-new game announcements. We cannot wait to share this initial look at what some of those teams are working on.

How to join Xbox 20/20 on May 7

I hope you’ll join me at 8 a.m. PDT on May 7 for the next episode of Inside Xbox and the first moment of Xbox 20/20. You can tune-in on:

Mixer.com/Xbox

Twitch.tv/Xbox

Facebook.com/Xbox

Twitter.com/Xbox

YouTube.com/Xbox for the 4K stream.

Live language support for the episode will be in English, LATAM Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German and Italian, and the episode will include live Audio Descriptions at /MixerAD.

As we’ve seen in recent weeks, gaming is being used for entertainment, for inspiration, and for strengthening social connections between you and your friends through shared adventures. As you continue to connect with your friends around the world through gaming, we look forward to sharing more of our plans on Xbox Wire so you can all join us as we look into the future of Xbox.

You’ll get more news and updates on Xbox Series X, reveals of new Xbox Game Studios and development partner titles, details on the future of Xbox Game Pass, and much more.

I’ve always believed in the future Team Xbox has been building with its community around the world. To join that vision and make it part of my own responsibilities is something I just couldn’t pass up when I joined the Xbox Marketing team last December and, today, I feel more reassured than ever that we’ll be able to bring it to pass with the help of our community.

Stay safe and be good to one another.
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Source: Xbox 20/20: Join Us as We Look into the Future of Xbox - Xbox Wire

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Brink · Jun 11, 2020

A closer look at Xbox Series X - specs and details

A few months ago, we revealed Xbox Series X, our fastest, most powerful console ever, designed for a console generation that has you, the player, at its center. When it is released this holiday season, Xbox Series X will set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility, all while allowing you to bring your gaming legacy forward with you and play thousands of games from four generations.

Recently, along with the tech experts YouTube and Digital Foundry, we had the chance to take a closer look at some of the technologies that are powering Xbox Series X and talk to the team about the choices they made when defining the next generation of gaming. We spent an entire day discussing everything from the console’s custom processor and latency solutions to backward compatibility and visual enhancements.

(Editor’s Note: We’ll be using some acronyms and discussing technologies in this post without always defining them. To that end, we’ve created an Xbox Series X glossary that contains many of these terms and more. We’ll link out where applicable, and you can check out the full glossary here, as well as our features on the new Xbox Wireless Controller and how the team is reducing latency.)

The next generation of Xbox is defined by three primary characteristics: Power, Speed and Compatibility. Let’s take a look at the features and technologies of Xbox Series X delivering those three hallmarks.

The Most Powerful Xbox Ever

Early on in the design of Xbox Series X, the team was determined to deliver the most powerful Xbox ever, which opened a series of discussions about how to define “power” in the next generation of consoles. In past generations, power has been defined primarily by graphics innovation: from the transition from 8 bit to 16 bit graphics, 2D to 3D, SD to HD and finally to 4K.

Today, gamers are demanding more and more games run at 60 frames per second (fps) with high visual fidelity and precise, responsive input. Developers have come up with creative solutions, such as dynamic resolution scaling, to maintain high image quality while not compromising on frame rate, but this is often done to work around the limitations and constraints of current generation hardware. That’s all about to change with Xbox Series X. It’s not just about making games look better, though. It’s about making games play better too.

“While the Xbox Series X will deliver a massive increase in GPU performance and continue to redefine and advance the state of art in graphics with new capabilities such as hardware accelerated raytracing,” said Jason Ronald, Director of Product Management on Xbox Series X, “we don’t believe this generation will be defined by graphics or resolution alone.”

The team knew they needed to build a next generation console that could run games in 4K at 60 fps with no compromises for developers. They also challenged themselves to deliver a level of performance once thought impossible on console, including support for up to 120 fps for the most demanding and competitive games. While they believe resolution and frame rate are creative decisions best left in the hands of title developers, the team wanted to ensure the system was able to support the needs of the largest blockbusters, competitive esports, and innovative independent creators.

In order to support those needs, the team strengthened their long-term partnership with chipmaker AMD, which began working with the Xbox team over 15 years ago on the Xbox 360. Sebastien Nussbaum, Corporate Vice President & Senior Fellow, Semi-Custom Products and Technologies at AMD, spoke a bit about what the team created to help power Xbox Series X.

Thanks to a focus on transformational design and generational performance uplift, Nussbaum said that, for developers, “the console ends up being a playground for technical innovation.” This is due in large part to the raw power of the custom designed processor, powered by an 8 core AMD Zen 2 CPU and an RDNA 2-class GPU.

These next generation architectures deliver a new level of performance that lets developers create realistic and immersive experiences like we’ve never seen before, while also allowing the team at AMD to seed a next generation DirectX ecosystem that will continue to push the industry forward.

“Xbox Series X is the biggest generational leap of SOC [System on a Chip] and API design that we’ve done with Microsoft, and it’s really an honor for AMD to be a trusted Microsoft partner for this endeavor,” said Nussbaum. “The Xbox Series X is going to be a beacon of technical innovation leadership for this console generation and will propagate the innovation throughout the DirectX ecosystem this year and into next year.”

Following the AMD presentation, Technical Fellow Andrew Goossen took the reins to dive deep into the technological bells and whistles that will be powering Xbox Series X. We’ve listed the full system specs below, with handy links out to our glossary for definitions on what many of these terms mean:

[table][tr][td]CPU[/td] [td]8x Cores @ 3.8 GHz (3.66 GHz w/ SMT) Custom Zen 2 CPU[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]GPU[/td] [td]12 TFLOPS, 52 CUs @ 1.825 GHz Custom RDNA 2 GPU[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Die Size[/td] [td]360.45 mm2[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Process[/td] [td]7nm Enhanced[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Memory[/td] [td]16 GB GDDR6 w/ 320mb bus[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Memory Bandwidth[/td] [td]10GB @ 560 GB/s, 6GB @ 336 GB/s[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Internal Storage[/td] [td]1 TB Custom NVME SSD[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]I/O Throughput[/td] [td]2.4 GB/s (Raw), 4.8 GB/s (Compressed, with custom hardware decompression block)[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Expandable Storage[/td] [td]1 TB Expansion Card (matches internal storage exactly)[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]External Storage[/td] [td]USB 3.2 External HDD Support[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Optical Drive[/td] [td]4K UHD Blu-Ray Drive[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Performance Target[/td] [td]4K @ 60 FPS, Up to 120 FPS[/td] [/tr] [/table]

For more information, I encourage you to check out Digital Foundry’s deep dive to get a better sense of what all of these features mean for developers and gamers.

One of the biggest (and most noticeable to players) features in Xbox Series X will be support for hardware accelerated DirectX Raytracing, which simulates the properties of light and sound in real time more accurately than any technology before it. To give us a better idea of how this technology directly impacts games, Clayton Vaught, Technical Director for Minecraft, ran us through a technical demo of how raytracing could impact one of the world’s most popular games.

Switching back and forth between current visuals to hardware accelerated DirectX Raytraced visuals, Vaught walked around a pre-built Minecraft world to show off the ways realistic lighting completely changes the game. Shadows cast from objects soften or harden depending on how far away from the object you are, while lava gives off a warm orange glow that dissipates over distance and reflects off of minecart rails. Even the moon casts its own rays, streaming down through cracks in the walls and reflecting off particles in the air. The Raytraced visuals fundamentally change the way Minecraft feels, drawing the player in and immersing them in a much more realistic world.

The most impressive feature (at least for yours truly) was the way light now passes through transparent objects like glass, picking up the color on its way to your eyes. This was beautifully demonstrated while walking through a hallway lined with a veritable rainbow of colored glass cubes, each of which cast a different colored shadow on the floor. The big wow moment came from the most unassuming of substances: water. With raytracing on, water was now fully transparent and allowed light from the moon to pass through it to the player underneath and realistically reflect off the seaweed swaying in the current.. It was really an impressive demo that brought what hardware accelerated DirectX Raytracing in Minecraft could deliver to life in a way I never imagined.

To close out the segment on the power of Xbox Series X, The Coalition’s Technical Director, Mike Rayner, came up to show us how his team is planning to optimize Gears 5 for Xbox Series X. The team showcased a technical demo of Gears 5, powered by Unreal Engine, for Xbox Series X using the full PC Ultra Spec settings, which included higher resolution textures and higher resolution volumetric fog, as well as a 50% higher particle count than the PC Ultra Specs allowed. They also showed off the opening cutscene, which now runs at 60 FPS in 4K (it was 30 FPS on Xbox One X), meaning the transition from real-time cutscenes to gameplay is incredibly smooth.

There were also some noticeable improvements in a few other areas as well. Load times were extremely fast, and the team was able to turn on some features that, while previously implemented, had to be turned off for the Xbox One X version. This included contact shadows (providing extra depth to objects) and self-shadow lighting on plants and grass, making every scene feel more realistic. Rayner also shared that the game is already running over 100 FPS and that the team is investigating implementing 120 FPS gameplay for multiplayer modes, giving players an experience never before seen on consoles. Most impressive of all? The fact that the team was able to get all of this up and running in a matter of weeks.

The team also announced that they will have an Xbox Series X Optimized version of Gears 5 available at Xbox Series X launch, which players will get free if they own the Xbox One version of Gears 5 and will leverage Smart Delivery depending on which console you’re using.

Improving Immersion and Embracing Speed

The next major tenet of the Xbox Series X is speed, which can be defined in a large number of different ways. Modern devices have changed our expectations on how quickly you can move between experiences or applications. Most of us want to be able to instantly jump into an experience or return right to where we left off. This influenced the team designing the system architecture, as they wanted to ensure they enabled gamers to spend more time playing and less time waiting.

A big part of that revolves around the addition of a solid-state drive (SSD). We have reached the upper limits of traditional rotational drive performance, so the team knew they needed to invest in SSD level I/O speeds to deliver the quality of experience they aspired to with Xbox Series X. This was an area where the team really wanted to innovate, and they knew this could be a game changer for the new generation. But they didn’t want the I/O system to be just about your games loading faster.

Enter Xbox Velocity Architecture, which features tight integration between hardware and software and is a revolutionary new architecture optimized for streaming of in game assets. This will unlock new capabilities that have never been seen before in console development, allowing 100 GB of game assets to be instantly accessible by the developer. The components of the Xbox Velocity Architecture all combine to create an effective multiplier on physical memory that is, quite literally, a game changer.

“The CPU is the brain of our new console and the GPU is the heart, but the Xbox Velocity Architecture is the soul,” said Andrew Goossen, Technical Fellow on Xbox Series X at Microsoft. “The Xbox Velocity Architecture is about so much more than fast last times. It’s one of the most innovative parts of our new console. It’s about revolutionizing how games can create vastly bigger, more compelling worlds.”

A big beneficiary of this technological upgrade are large open world games where players have freedom to play and explore in their own way and at their own pace. Titles such as Final Fantasy XV, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and Red Dead Redemption 2 have redefined expectations of a living, dynamic world this generation.

To make these universes even more dynamic and feel like large, high fidelity worlds requires a massive increase in processing power and the ability to stream assets in extremely quickly to not break immersion (epic elevator rides or lengthy hallways are good examples of how developers creatively hide assets loading in). Developers will also be able to effectively eliminate loading times between levels or create fast travel systems that are just that: fast.

You also can’t talk about speed without also talking about latency.

“Competitive gamers and the best gaming experiences demand precise, responsive controls,” said Goossen. “The Xbox team analyzed the entire end to end input pipeline, from the controller to the console and from the console to the display and we challenged ourselves to identify every opportunity to further reduce latency to provide the best experience for gamers on Xbox.”

This has included developing brand new technology such as Dynamic Latency Input (DLI) as well as helping to shape the HDMI 2.1 specification by adding new gaming-centric features such as support for 120hz, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM). The team has also been working with the industry’s leading TV manufacturers for the past two years to ensure the display ecosystem is ready for the features coming with Xbox Series X.

While it can be difficult to notice the improved latency from any one of these improvements alone, when they all add up, it makes for a profoundly more responsive experience.

Finally, there are the player experiences that will be greatly improved thanks to the speed afforded by Xbox Series X. The most noticeable of these is , which will be greatly decreased thanks to the processing power of Xbox Series X.

There’s also the new Quick Resume technology that we outlined in our last blog post. With current gen consoles, you can resume the last game you played. However, since most players play (on average) three to four games a month, the team wanted to give them the option to switch between them easily and quickly. With Quick Resume, you can resume multiple games with the press of a button, instantly jumping back into the action, right where you left off, for multiple titles at the same time.

Since game states will be stored directly in the system’s SSD, they’ll even persist after you turn off the console, unplug it entirely, or even take a system update. One of the testers on the team unplugged his console for a week, then took an update, and was still able to continue right where he left off without so much as a loading screen.

Game Compatibility Continues in the Next Generation

The third and final pillar for Xbox Series X is compatibility. Through the Xbox One generation, the team has shown their passion and commitment for compatibility, putting the player and their favorite games at the center of everything they do. As gamers themselves, they understood that we all have our favorite memories, franchises or titles that we want to continue to play even as technology and game design continues to advance.

“The community’s response to Phil’s announcement of 360 backward compatibility at E3 2015 was one of the biggest career highlights for me in my time as part of Team Xbox,” said Ronald.

For the next generation, the team knew from the outset that they wanted to double down on compatibility. That vision helped influence the design of the system and, through a combination of hardware and software, they committed themselves to ensuring the thousands of games on Xbox One, including Xbox 360 and original Xbox games, will play even better on Xbox Series X.

“The team came and told us about Xbox Series X. They said ‘What can you do with even more power?’ So, the challenge was set. They gave us the Xbox One X and it was like we got this big playground to play with,” said Peggy Lo, Principal Program Management Lead, Backward Compatibility. “Then we got the Xbox Series X and it was like we had a whole amusement park to play in.”

Players will see the benefits of the improved hardware of Xbox Series X for backwards compatible games, including improved boot and load times, more stable frame rates, higher resolutions and improved image quality. The Compatibility team is also continuing to create entirely new techniques and innovation that we can use to further enhance the existing catalog of games when running on Xbox Series X.

The Xbox team is so committed to the concept of compatibility and cross generation play, that not only do your games move forward with you, but so do your Xbox One accessories, your game saves, and progression. In fact, your entire gaming legacy moves forward with you to the next generation.

What’s more, the team has also designed the system to enable cross generation multiplayer, as well as introduce new features such as Smart Delivery, which ensures you only have to purchase a title once, knowing you will get the best version of the title on whatever Xbox console you choose to play on. This will allow players to seamlessly move between multiple consoles and console generations as they see fit. Xbox Series X is the fastest, most powerful Xbox console ever, designed for a console generation that has you at its center. We hope this closer look at some of the design decisions and technologies powering Xbox Series X answered your questions and gave you a good idea of what to expect when the console becomes available this holiday season.
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Source: https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/03/...series-x-tech/

Read more:

THE NEW XBOX SERIES X FASTEST. MOST POWERFUL.

Xbox Series X: A Closer Look at the Technology Powering the Next Generation

Xbox Series X: What’s the Deal with Latency?

Xbox Series X: Making Gaming’s Best Controller Even Better

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