Microsoft has seemingly confirmed the next Xbox console, whatever it winds up being called and whenever it ends up releasing, will boast a fan-favorite feature. That said, those familiar with the various initiatives of Xbox under boss Phil Spencer will not be surprised if the feature is continued from the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S to the next Xbox console.ย
As you may remember, when the previous console generation started, there was no backward compatibility. Microsoft worked hard to change this, and not only got Xbox 360 backward compatibility going, but got original Xbox games on Xbox One. Not all Xbox 360 and OG Xbox games, but many of them. This prompted PlayStation to start working on the same thing, and as a result, both the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S launched with backward compatibility. The expectation is this will continue on PS6, and now it sounds like it will certainly continue with the next Xbox console.ย
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Thanks to a newly leaked email out of Microsoft from Xbox president Sarah Bond, we know Xbox has formed a new team purely dedicated to game preservation, indicating not only is backward compatibility a part of the Xbox future, but it is investing more into it than even previously.
“We have formed a new team dedicated to game preservation, important to all of us at Xbox and the industry itself,” reads the leaked email. “We are building on our strong history of delivering backwards compatibility to our players, and we remain committed to bringing forward the amazing library of Xbox games for future generations of players to enjoy.”
It is unclear what consumers will benefit from as a result of this as backward compatibility is very much already a thing, but at the bare minimum it reveals it is not going anywhere. That said, this assuming the contents of the leak are legit. In other words, remember to take everything here with a grain of salt, though the source in question, Windows Central, is typically reliable.ย
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