- A new team has been established at Xbox for game preservation.
- Microsoft remains committed to game compatibility across different generations of consoles.
- More information on the subject is expected in June.
Game preservation has been a persistent debate in the industry today. Fans of physical media, in particular, are passionate about the subject, arguing that digital media goes against this notion.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Xbox, the platform most invested in a digital ecosystem, appears to be making efforts for game preservation. Reports state that Microsoft has established a separate team to meet this goal.
Why it matters: These efforts are encouraging for everyone invested in the ecosystem, underscoring a focus on keeping existing libraries intact across multiple generations.
As reported by Windows Central, Sarah Bond addressed the Xbox teams in an internal email recently.
We have formed a new team dedicated to game preservation.
-Sarah Bond
She stated that this team will primarily work on moving the existing Xbox Series S|X games forward. In practical terms, this means that the current-generation games are guaranteed to work on the next hardware.
Microsoft is expected to launch its next console as early as 2026, so it seems backward compatibility for that hardware is already set in stone. According to the source, Sarah Bond and her team will share more information on the matter in June.
The goal could also transition to Xbox restarting its backward compatibility program.
Having acquired Activision Blizzard, the gaming giant has more room to move its older games to new hardware.
Xbox gamers can rest assured that their current libraries will not be rendered useless once the new generation rolls around.
This already happened once, with both Microsoft and Sony dropping backward compatibility in 2013. Fortunately, the industry is more aware of the situation today, focusing on ensuring gamers retain access to their purchases on new hardware.
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[News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than three years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
