Xbox Series X’s backward compatibility is good for live-service games

Gamers are preparing for a leap into the next generation in November with the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5, but many of the people who upgrade are going to find themselves returning to games that came out years ago. Live-service hits like Apex Legends, Warframe, and Rocket League aren’t going to vanish. They’re going to have a major role in the early months of the new systems. But the thing about Apex Legends, Warframe, and Rocket League in particular is that their developers have not committed to launching native versions for next-gen consoles yet. Instead, they will likely run in backward-compatibility mode. Is that a problem, though? In most cases, not really. But it’s a reminder that legacy support is about more than just replaying old games.

The PS5 and Xbox X/S have robust support for the current generation of video games. Almost everything should work. I’ve spent weeks testing the Xbox Series X, and the actual game-playing experience is excellent. Its more powerful hardware and faster storage improve almost everything I’ve played. And any game that I’ve tried with dynamic resolution or an unlocked framerate runs sharper and faster on Series X.