Is Xbox Going To Normalize The Cross-Gen Library?

As the next generation approaches, both Microsoft and Sony have been outlining their respective visions for the coming years. And while upgraded hardware that pushes more triangles is always a priority in the games industry, both companies have increasingly turned their messaging toward the consumer-friendly features of the impending Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. One such highlight from Microsoft, the promise of a unified library that works across generations, could signal the way forward for the industry as a whole.

Backwards compatibility has been a talking point for platform holders for years, but in practice, the feature has been spotty. Some generations have eschewed it almost entirely, as hardware architecture became more complex and distinct from prior generations, and this marked a stark distinction from PC where most games remain playable forever. Microsoft refocused efforts on backwards compatibility in a big way on Xbox One. After first cutting ties with the Xbox 360 library almost completely, the company made inroads with fans by announcing a major initiative to retroactively import older games through firmware updates that would increase compatibility. Nowadays, it's difficult to find a popular 360 game that isn't playable on Xbox One, and those who amassed a large digital collection in the heady days of Xbox Live Arcade can see it all waiting to be downloaded in their game library. This effort has extended to a selection of the original Xbox's library as well, giving players access to almost 20 years of games.

A day might be coming when games are no longer thought of as tethered to a specific console.

With the Xbox Series X, the company appears primed to take the next logical step. It has made a point of hyping its "Smart Delivery" feature, which ostensibly allows you to transfer your ownership license of a game over to a new console when you upgrade, as long as a publisher enables the feature. But Microsoft has been clear that the transfer goes both ways--if you own a game and sign in to your account on a friend's Xbox One, you can still download cross-gen compatible games you purchased on Xbox Series X. Microsoft boasts that Smart Delivery will always provide the version optimized for your hardware, which may be increasingly important if the company adopts a multi-device approach to the new generation. Xbox Series X is expected to be the first of many hardware iterations to come, and the promise of Smart Delivery is that you won't have to think about which version to buy or fiddle with your graphics settings. The software will simply know what's best.