It's certainly no secret that the Xbox One X, Microsoft's powerful new flagship home console, will be backward compatible with virtually all Xbox One Games, but up until now, the company has been tight-lipped about which specific games will get "enhanced" thanks to the console's upgraded specs.
Microsoft has now revealed the official list of enhanced games during its Gamescom conference Sunday Aug. 20. These games, when played on an Xbox One X, will feature either 4K or HDR improvements. Expect to see performance optimizations as well, since the games will be updated to support the machine's beefed-up internals.
Game developers can leverage the console's more capable specs to improve several fronts such as more assets, higher resolution, and better frame rate. These aren't guaranteed, of course, as each game has different requirements. All these optimizations fall under Microsoft's Xbox One X Enhanced program, which will help gamers know which games have been updated to support the Xbox One X. This means you should watch out for three logos: one that says a game has been enhanced for the new console, a "4K" logo to indicate the resolution, and an "HDR" logo.
The 4K capability isn't cut and dried, though. You might get a combination of native 2160p resolution, in addition to tricks such as "checkerboarding" and dynamic resolution. The PlayStation 4 Pro uses some of these techniques to render games in 4K, for the record. As for HDR, the Xbox One X will support HDR10, and it remains uncertain if there's any word on Dolby Vision.
List Of Xbox One X-Enhanced Games
There are more than 100 games enhanced for the Xbox One X, but it's too early to get excited because not all these will be available at the console's launch date. That said, you can find some old but critically acclaimed titles in the list, including Fallout 4, Gears of War 4, Ori and the Will of the Wisp, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and so much more. Check out Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb's blog post to see the entire list.
Xbox One X
The Xbox One X launches this Nov. 7 for $499.99. Some analysts believe its high price point will shoo gamers away, but Microsoft argues it knows exactly which type of people are going to buy its new console. It supports 4K Blu-ray and video streaming and Dolby Atmos and DTS:X audio. It boasts 6 teraflops of power, 12 GB of GDDR5 RAM, and has 1 TB of onboard storage. It'll run some Xbox 360 and Xbox One X games, in addition to exclusive titles that can't be played anywhere.
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