Smart Delivery, it’s one of the key features for Xbox Series X (And Series S? Who knows?). It’s also been pitched as team Xbox’s attempt at rewarding players and their communities for upgrading their systems later this year, all while keeping consistency across its overall install base. It’s no secret that backwards compatibility has been a major focus for Xbox this generation.
But gamers want to know how smart delivery is going to change the way we play? Will it alter the game development meta? Will it affect costs for consumers?
The Price Should Be Right
Well, the most attractive answer is it should save players some cash. If players wish to buy Halo Infinite on their Xbox One system, then later decide they wish to upgrade to the Series X, smart delivery will auto-install all the next-gen updates for Infinite for its latest flagship. Does this incentive cover both digital and physical landscapes? Here are some scenarios taken from Xbox Wire’s latest post regarding Smart Delivery:
- “If you own Gears 5 or are loving it via Xbox Game Pass now, you can play it today on Xbox One. Then, if you pick up an Xbox Series X this holiday, all it takes is a push of a button to download it and you’ll have the optimised version of Gears 5 – available on day 1 at launch with the console – at your fingertips.
- When Halo Infinite launches alongside Xbox Series X and Xbox One this holiday, you only have to buy the game once and you’ll get the best version for whichever console you own, or both. If you pick up Xbox Series X for your living room, Smart Delivery will recognise that and deliver you the optimised version there. If you decide to move your existing Xbox One to a bedroom or the office, Smart Delivery will recognise that too and deliver that version when you’re playing on Xbox One.
- Lastly, some new and existing Xbox One titles will be optimising their games after the Xbox Series X launches. For example, if you buy Cyberpunk 2077 when it launches on September 17, you’ll be set to explore Night City on Xbox One. If you pick up Xbox Series X at launch this holiday, you can play it there too in compatibility mode picking up exactly where you left off. Then, when CD PROJEKT RED delivers an Xbox Series X optimised version of Cyberpunk 2077, you’ll automatically get upgraded once it’s available at no additional cost.”
‘All-Inclusive Experience‘
Falling in line with Xbox’s ‘All-Inclusive’ experience, Smart Delivery is also applicable to existing Xbox Games Pass titles, should developers feel the need to breathe new life into existing IP. This is a similar approach Xbox made to making Xbox 360 and OG Xbox titles backwards compatible on the Xbox One a while back. The big green machine is leaving their Xbox One launch event in the dust by offering developers a digital playground to not only upgrade their titles but to also make older titles relevant and to bring new titles to a much larger install base than any previous generation of Xbox has seen (Xbox One and Series X platform capabilities on one disk, that is).
Alongside Smart Delivery, the “Optimized for Xbox Series X” branding will be sported by some big third and first-party games. The ‘optimized’ tag is a nod to gamers that Xbox has worked with developers to make sure the selected title works best on Xbox Series X. Of course, these optimised titles will also benefit from Smart Delivery. Here are some titles that are confirmed to be Optimised by Will Tuttle of Xbox Wire:
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
Keeping Their Existing Customers
For fans of the American console giant, Xbox Series X provides plenty of reasons for existing Xbox One owners to stick with the brand. For a company to have such a relaxed strategy to pushing its new product building up to its new flagship launch is unprecedented. If you’re happy with your current setup, no problem. But when you do want to upgrade, players know that they can take over their existing library and play upgraded versions of the titles they already own. It’s a great proposition for Xbox gamers.
Here are some facts about the Xbox Series X that have been shared on Xbox Wire’s “Everything You Need to Know about Xbox Series X and The Future of Xbox… So Far”:
- 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, we’re 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.
