While it might be light of first-party exclusives right now, the Xbox Series X still provides a number of fantastic experiences, especially with games that take distinct advantage of the new hardware.
To celebrate the console’s arrival this week, Microsoft has ensured that a large selection of titles have been optimised to take advantage of the Xbox Series X and its younger sibling, the Series S. This means they have received bespoke updates, instead of natively taking advantage of the hardware with no targeted improvements.
But how can you tell whether or not a game has been enhanced for the new platforms. Fortunately, Microsoft has made such a process nice and easy to understand, and there’s also other features such as Automatic HDR and upscaling to take into account, although these don’t come under the umbrella of official enhancements.
Related: Best Xbox Series X Games
How to tell if a game is enhanced for Xbox Series X?
Once you begin installing games onto your Xbox Series X, those which have been updated to support the new console, or are simply enhanced from the moment of installation, will receive their own individual section in My Games and Apps.
This will compile all Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S titles into a series of easy to distinguish tiles, while all vanilla Xbox One, Xbox 360 and original Xbox games will be found below them. As we mentioned earlier, Automatic HDR will applied to all titles so long as you have a relevant display, although this is applied from a system level instead of through updates.
As for games which are set to receive free upgrades, if you already have an existing version of said game installed, it will automatically be upgraded once the new iteration becomes available. I had this happen with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and fortunately the download sizes are fairly similar in most circumstances. However, this could change as titles are made specifically for the new consoles and require a little extra space.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
