Windows 10: Xbox Series X|S can now give FPS Boost to backward compatible games

Brink · Feb 17, 2021

When we were designing Xbox Series X|S, we knew we wanted to continue our commitment to compatibility we started back in 2015, enabling gamers to play their favorite titles from past generations on the new consoles. Nearly all titles benefit from next generation features like faster loading times and the ability to Quick Resume. Then the team went one step further; adding enhancements to many of our most played games so they look, feel and play better than ever before.

As we detailed in October, with the increased CPU, GPU and memory from our new consoles, all of your existing games look and play better. With certain titles, we can make the experience even better, all with no work required by the developer, and no update needed by the gamer. To that end, the backward compatibility team has developed FPS Boost, which employs a variety of new methods for nearly doubling (and in a few instances, quadrupling) the original framerate on select titles. Higher, steadier framerates make games visually smoother, resulting in more immersive gameplay. We partnered closely with developers to enhance the experience while maintaining the gameâs original intent. And while not applicable to all games, these new techniques can push game engines to render more quickly for a buttery smooth experience beyond what the original game might have delivered due to the capabilities of the hardware at the time.

Weâre excited to announce the first assortment of backward compatible titles that will support FPS Boost â available beginning today â are Far Cry 4, New Super Luckyâs Tale, Sniper Elite 4, UFC 4, and Watch Dogs 2. We chose this initial collection of titles not only because they are popular among fans, but to highlight several different ways that FPS Boost can improve your experience. For example, New Super Luckyâs Tale can now run up to 120 frames per second (fps) and UFC 4 delivers improved framerate performance specifically on Xbox Series S and can now run at 60fps.

This is just the beginning. We will announce and release more titles featuring FPS Boost soon, as well roll out new menu icons and system settings in an upcoming system update. Starting this Spring, you can go into the âManage Gameâ section for any title, where youâll be presented with a new âCompatibility Optionsâ button that will allow you to toggle FPS Boost (as well as Auto HDR) on or off. There will also be a new indicator informing you when a game is running with FPS Boost whenever you hit the Xbox Button on your controller. You decide how you want to play your favorite games, whether in its original form or with FPS Boost.

And FPS Boost doesnât only benefit gamers who own these titles â youâll be happy to hear that many of these upcoming FPS Boost games will be available in Xbox Game Pass. From this initial release of updates, New Super Luckyâs Tale and Sniper Elite 4 are currently available with Xbox Game Pass. Weâre very excited for fans to experience FPS Boost and in the coming months, weâll be announcing more and more games that support this function.

At Xbox, we believe your gaming investments should come with you, which is why weâve brought forward thousands of games from four generations to look and play better than ever on the Xbox Series X|S. We canât wait for you all to give these titles a spin, and to reveal more FPS Boost games very soon.
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Source: Making Backward Compatible Games Even Better with FPS Boost - Xbox Wire

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Brink · Feb 17, 2021

Backward Compatibility on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S

As gamers, we know how important it is to preserve and respect your gaming legacy. We believe your favorite games and franchises, your progression and achievements, your Xbox One gaming accessories and the friendships and communities you create through gaming should all move with you across generations. We also fundamentally believe that not only should you be able to play all of your games from the past without needing to purchase them again, but they should also look, feel and play better on the next generation of Xbox consoles. Preserving and improving the thousands of games you know and love, or have yet to discover, has been a core objective since the beginning of the backward compatibility program in 2015, and with years of learnings and successes – and over 500,000 hours of gameplay testing across four generations of Xbox in the last year alone getting ready for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S – we couldn’t be more proud of the results you will be able to experience beginning November 10.

Games play best on Xbox Series X and Series S

Backward compatible games run natively on the Xbox Series X and S, running with the full power of the CPU, GPU and SSD. No boost mode, no downclocking, the full power of the consoles for each and every backward compatible game. This means that all titles run at the peak performance that they were originally designed for, with significantly higher performance than their original launch platform, resulting in higher and more steady framerates and rendering at their maximum resolution and visual quality. Backward compatible titles also benefit from significant reductions in load times due to the massive leap in performance from our custom NVME SSD at the heart of the Xbox Velocity Architecture.

Auto HDR for everyone

Modern games often implement high dynamic range (HDR) to improve overall visual quality. HDR allows a game to render a much larger range of brightness values and colors. This gives an extra sense of richness and depth to the image when compared to a standard dynamic range (SDR) image. For example, the light from a flashlight looks much brighter and red flowers look much more vibrant.

However, thousands of Xbox games shipped before HDR was first introduced with Xbox One S, and even for some Xbox One games, developers simply didn’t have the development resources or time to implement HDR. With Xbox Series X and Series S we are introducing a new feature named Auto HDR. Auto HDR automatically adds HDR enhancements to games which only shipped with SDR. Auto HDR enhances the visual quality of an SDR game without changing the original artistic intent of the game. Auto HDR is implemented by the system so developers don’t have to do any work to take advantage of this feature. Also, since Auto HDR is enabled by the console’s hardware, there is absolutely no performance cost to the CPU, GPU or memory and there is no additional latency added ensuring you receive the ultimate gaming experience.

The below images show how Auto HDR can improve the visual quality without changing the overall look of the game. The HDR images are brighter and more colorful only in the naturally expected areas, while the rest of the image retains its original intent.

Amazing innovations for some of the classics

By the time the new Xbox consoles launch this November, the team will have spent well over 500,000 hours of gameplay across the entire backward compatibility catalog to ensure your experience is the best possible, no matter which game is your favorite. Beyond the improvements all backward compatible games will see due to increased hardware performance, our team of backward compatibility engineers continue to innovate and push the limits of game preservation and enhancement to make your current game library look and play even better, at no additional cost and with no work from developers while still respecting the artistic intent and vision of the original creators.

New technology to double framerates

Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S bring next-gen performance to your favorite games. Higher, steadier framerates make games feel smoother, resulting in more immersive gameplay. Many improvements are the result of the custom designed processor that allows compatible games to play and leverage the increased CPU, GPU and memory from the new consoles. In addition however, the backward compatibility team has developed new methods for effectively doubling the framerate on select titles. While not applicable for many titles due to the game’s original physics or animations, these new techniques the team has developed can push game engines to render more quickly for a buttery smooth experience beyond what the original game might have delivered due to the capabilities of the hardware. Fallout 4 framerate, shown below, is effectively doubled from 30fps to 60fps on Xbox Series S, delivering a new way to preserve and enjoy this legendary title.

Enhanced visuals you have to see to believe

On the Xbox One, we were able to provide a curated list of titles that were enhanced for the Xbox One X via the Heutchy method. This allowed titles from Xbox 360 that rendered at 720p and original Xbox games that ran at 360p to play at 4K on Xbox One X, well beyond the capabilities of their original platform. The Heutchy method continues to be used to bring a variety of titles to 1440p on Xbox Series S and 4K on Xbox Series X.

Improved texture filtering is also coming to backward compatible titles on both Xbox Series X and Series S. On Xbox One X, a portion of the catalog benefited from increased anisotropic filtering, improving image quality of games. On Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, 16x anisotropic filtering has been enabled for nearly all backward compatible titles so you can experience the very best visuals the games have to offer.

Delivering on our promise

The backward compatibility team has been working hard to make all the games you love and remember available to you on Xbox Series X and Series S. Playing the games will be just as easy and magical as it’s always been. Simply insert your favorite backward compatible Xbox One, Xbox 360 or original Xbox disc into your Xbox Series X, install the game, and you’ll be ready to play. Your digital library will instantly appear and ready for download on the console when you sign in. If you’ve already installed your games to an external drive, you can bring that with you to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. This all happens with no additional cost to you. And, with cloud saves, you’ll jump right back in where you left off. For those of you still enjoying Xbox 360, cloud saves will soon be free to all Xbox 360 users, making transferring your favorite games to Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S even easier.

Preserving the games of our past is fundamental to our DNA at Xbox and our continued promise to you. Backward compatibility lets you experience your cherished gaming memories again and in new ways. Your favorite games retain everything the original developer intended, while experiencing enhancements and exciting new features. There’s no need to look back, because your games are ready to move forward with you to the next generation of Xbox.
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Source: Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S Will Be the Best Place to Play 1000s of Games From Across Four Generations of Xbox - Xbox Wire

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Brink · Feb 17, 2021

App Compatibility for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S Consoles

UWP applications (both apps and games) are a pivotal part of the Xbox experience. As we near the launch of the new console generation, we want to address some common questions regarding app and game development on the new Xbox family of consoles. If you have been developing for the Xbox One X using UWP and leveraging the Dev Mode Activation App, the same features will be supported on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Please refer to the following FAQs for further guidance.

Thank you for your partnership with Xbox!

FAQs:

Will my current UWP app or game continue running on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S?

Yes, apps and games running on the Xbox One should continue to run at parity on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. The underlying platform APIs and codecs that UWP apps are built on have been tested and validated with key scenarios by Microsoft and through thousands of hours of usage in our internal Xbox flighting program. These APIs and codes are supported on the new Xbox family of consoles. When the new Xbox family of consoles is released, we recommend doing additional validation of your UWP app or game on the chosen device if desired.

How can I verify that my UWP app or game is working on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S?

Devkits are not publicly available. UWP application developers should continue to rely on the Dev Mode Activation App used on the Xbox One X to convert their retails consoles into a development kit to test for compatibility As the same APIs and codecs are used between the Xbox One X and the new Xbox family of consoles, an app that works on the Xbox One X should continue to work on the new Xbox family of consoles

When the new Xbox family of consoles are available in retail, app partners can rely on Dev Mode Activation App to convert those consoles into a development kit.

Do I need to change or rewrite my application from the current UWP application?

No app development changes are required for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. You use the same SDK, build environments, and UWP APIs to develop your applications. The same publishing process for UWPs on the Xbox One will continue to apply for the new Xbox family of consoles.

As a reference, here are the links to the UWP documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...etting-started

Are there any features my app can take advantage of for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S?

We focused our efforts on backwards compatibility for apps on our new Xbox family of consoles to make it easier for our partners and enable a seamless transition for your app from the Xbox One generation to the next generation of Xbox consoles. This means that all of your favorite apps will carry over to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on day 1.

We currently do not have additional features for apps on the new Xbox family of consoles that are not already a part of the Xbox One X.

Will I need to sign a new agreement to bring my Xbox One UWP application to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S?

No, the existing Store App Developer Agreement terms will continue to cover distribution for apps on the new Xbox family of consoles. No additional agreements are required to run your app on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

Will my app show that it supports the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on the Store?

Yes, Microsoft will list the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S as a platform on the Store PDP. No additional work is required from the app partner to add in Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S listing to the Store

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Source: App Compatibility for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S Consoles - Windows Developer Blog

See also: Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X Launch November 10

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Brink · Feb 17, 2021

Xbox Series X - Most Powerful and Compatible Next-Gen Console

Gaming leaves an indelible mark on all of us. From the epic stories and universes we experience playing as our favorite heroes, to the heat of intense competition, victory and defeat. Through the shared accomplishments we achieve as a worldwide community, gaming brings us together.

Thousands of developers from across the globe are currently creating the next generation of transformative games, many of which can only be realized through the power and innovation of the Xbox Series X. Led by Halo Infinite, our 15 Xbox Game Studios teams are hard at work creating the biggest and best line up of exclusives in Xbox history. We are incredibly excited to show many of the new games in development for Xbox Series X soon.

Preserving Your Gaming Legacy

As gamers, we also know how important it is to preserve and respect our gaming legacies. Your favorite games and franchises, your progression and achievements, and the friendships and communities you create through gaming should all move with you across generations. Not only that, your favorite gaming accessories and peripherals should also move forward with you as well.

Our goal has always been to empower gamers to play the best versions of games from across four generations of Xbox at the launch of Xbox Series X. These principles were key to us from Day 1 and influenced many of our design decisions as we started on our journey to create our most powerful and compatible console ever.

Compatibility Journey

Our compatibility journey began with the announcement of Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility coming to Xbox One at E3 2015. I clearly remember that first magical experience of jumping into one of my favorite Xbox 360 games, Final Fantasy XIII, and instantly resuming where I had left off years before as if no time had passed at all. I was instantly transported back to that special time and all the great memories and personal connections I have made through gaming. The energy and passion from the community continues to motivate us to this day.

Through a tremendous amount of hard work, technical innovation, and partnership with the industry’s leading creators we were not only able to bring more than 500 Xbox 360 games to Xbox One, we were able to go back even further into the archives and resurrect some of your favorite franchises from the original Xbox. The very same team who created new innovative ways to preserve and enhance your existing catalog of games on Xbox One is the same team pushing the envelope again with Xbox Series X.

Maintaining compatibility presents a massive technical challenge as fundamental system and chip architectures advance across generations. Developers highly optimize their games to the unique capabilities and performance of a console to provide the best experience for their players. To make the Xbox Series X our most compatible console ever required both significant innovation in the design of the custom processor as well as the unique design of the Xbox operating system and hypervisor at the heart of our next generation platform.

With more than 100,000 hours of play testing already completed, thousands of games are already playable on Xbox Series X today, from the biggest blockbusters to cult classics and fan favorites. Many of us in Team Xbox play on the Xbox Series X daily as our primary console and switching between generations is seamless. By the time we launch this holiday, the team will have spent well over 200,000 hours ensuring your game library is ready for you to jump in immediately.

All Games Play Better on Xbox Series X

Not only should gamers be able to play all of these games from the past, 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. As I play through my personal backlog as part of our internal testing, all of the incredible games from Xbox One and earlier play best on Xbox Series X.

The team was not content to just rely on the increased hardware performance to improve your playing experience. The team developed new platform level capabilities to ensure all of your games continue to get even better. In partnership with the Xbox Advanced Technology Group, Xbox Series X delivers a new, innovative HDR reconstruction technique which enables the platform to automatically add HDR support to games. As this technique is handled by the platform itself, it allows us to enable HDR with zero impact to the game’s performance and we can also apply it to Xbox 360 and original Xbox titles developed almost 20 years ago, well before the existence of HDR.

In addition, the new Quick Resume feature was designed to not only work with new games, but it can also be enabled for backward-compatible titles. Quick Resume enables players to resume exactly where they left off, across multiple titles, ensuring gamers can get right back to the fun in an instant.

All of these advances happen at the platform level and require no additional work from title developers.

Advancing the State of the Art of Game Preservation

In addition to preserving the legacy of our loyal fans who have been with us since the beginning, we enable entirely new generations of gamers to play and enjoy the timeless games from our past while respecting and honoring their creators.

Beginning with Xbox One X, the compatibility team developed brand new innovations that could be applied to a hand curated list of titles to enhance them even further than what was possible when they were first created. Techniques such as the Heutchy method, which enables titles to render with increased resolutions up to 4K, or applying anisotropic filtering to improve the final image quality bring these classic games up to modern standards, better than ever before.

With all of the additional power and advancements of the Xbox Series X, the compatibility team now has a veritable playground of new capabilities to innovate and push the limits of game preservation and enhancement. The compatibility team has invented brand new techniques that enable even more titles to run at higher resolutions and image quality while still respecting the artistic intent and vision of the original creators. We are also creating whole new classes of innovations including the ability to double the frame rate of a select set of titles from 30 fps to 60 fps or 60 fps to 120 fps.

The team also continues to listen to feedback from the community on additional titles you would like to see added to the compatibility program. Resurrecting titles from history often presents a complex mix of technical and licensing challenges, but the team is committed to doing everything we can to continue to preserve our collective gaming legacy.

We can’t wait to share more with you as we get closer to the launch of Xbox Series X this holiday.
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Source: Xbox Series X: The Most Powerful and Compatible Next-Gen Console with Thousands of Games at Launch - Xbox Wire

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Windows 10: Xbox Series X|S can now give FPS Boost to backward compatible games

Xbox Series X|S can now give FPS Boost to backward compatible games

Xbox Series X|S can now give FPS Boost to backward compatible games

Xbox Series X|S can now give FPS Boost to backward compatible games

Xbox Series X|S can now give FPS Boost to backward compatible games - Similar Threads - Xbox Series X|S

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