When Microsoft launched the $500 Xbox Collection X 4 years in the past, it promised that the machine would be capable of play video games from as way back because the first Xbox launch in 2001. On Monday, the corporate expanded on that promise by creating a brand new group inside its Xbox division dedicated to backward compatibility, guaranteeing outdated video games can nonetheless play on newer gadgets — like the following Xbox.
“Now we have fashioned a brand new group devoted to recreation preservation, vital to all of us at Xbox and the trade itself,” Sarah Bond, Xbox’s newly minted president, stated in an e mail to employees that was made public Monday by Home windows Central. “We’re constructing on our sturdy historical past of delivering backwards compatibility to our gamers, and we stay dedicated to bringing ahead the wonderful library of Xbox video games for future generations of gamers to get pleasure from.”
Microsoft is “transferring full velocity forward” on its “next-generation {hardware}” — a possible reference to successor to the Xbox Collection X — Bond, who was promoted late final yr to supervise Xbox {hardware} and software program, stated in her e mail.
Microsoft hasn’t stated a lot about its plans for its subsequent main console after the Xbox Collection X, however Bond wrote in her e mail that the group is “targeted on delivering the largest technological leap ever in a technology.”
Microsoft did not instantly reply to a request for remark concerning the e mail, although Home windows Central stated the corporate had confirmed its authenticity.
Learn extra: Microsoft Is Testing an AI Chatbot for Xbox. This is What It Might Do
The Xbox group’s strikes are the newest manner the tech large is hoping to distinguish itself in opposition to rivals together with Sony, Nintendo and Valve, whose Steam Deck line of portables has helped improve reputation of gaming on PCs.
Microsoft has been advertising and marketing backward compatibility for years, providing Xbox gamers the flexibility to play a whole lot of older Xbox video games with both a disk or via an internet buy. As Microsoft’s Xbox division will increase its emphasis on its Xbox digital storefront and Xbox Sport Cross subscription service, that promise of compatibility might develop into much more compelling.
There’s additionally a deliberate refinement improve for the Xbox Collection X coming, codenamed Brooklin. That machine, which was leaked by Microsoft final yr in a reportedly unintentional authorized submitting, is anticipated to supply a brand new look together with higher equipment connections and energy administration when it launches later this yr.
Learn extra: PS5 vs. Xbox Collection X: How do They Maintain Up?
