Right off the bat, backward compatibility is a much great emphasis for consoles than it has been in a long, long time. Xbox in particular is really banking on having a vast number of games from across four generations being playable on a single device (with several enhancements, no less), with features such as Smart Delivery designed specifically for that purpose, and to ensure that backward compatibility is as optimized and easy to use on both the Xbox Series X and Series S as it can be.
According to Brett Bibby – chief product officer of Unity, which is one of the industry’s most widely used game development engines – Smart Delivery in particular is a “winning move”, while cross-gen features on PlayStation – such as being able to stream PS5 games on PS4 through remote play – also deserve praise.
“Giving players more options to play is always a winning move,” said Bibby in a recent interview with GamingBolt. “Smart Delivery on Xbox is a great example, no doubt extending the life of many Xbox Ones that would otherwise be sitting in a closet once replaced. And by using the PS4 to stream PS5 play, Sony is creating a similar opportunity for their audience. Games have long ago left that ‘niche’ feel behind them; they’re something everybody does. The changes we’re seeing this generation really reflect this, providing more opportunities to play what you want when you want – and wherever you want.”
We also posed questions about the importance of backward compatibility in the newer consoles to Tomas Sala, the solo developer of the Xbox Series X/S launch title The Falconeer, and he had similar glowing things to say about the matter.
“Making games playable across generations is a great way to extend the life of a game – especially if it’s one that keeps players engaged with seasonal content or ongoing updates,” said Sala. “Smart Delivery is an especially clever way to do this, as it lets creators deliver an optimized version of their game to whichever platform a player prefers.”
In the same interview, Bibby and Sala also spoke to us about the Xbox Series S, and whether they feel the console will be able to keep up with next-gen demands (spoilers: they do). Read more on that through here.
Our full interview with the duo will be live soon, so stay tuned for the whole thing.
