Xbox has made a major commitment to backward compatibility - what you need to know

Xbox has made a major commitment to backward compatibility - what you need to know

Xbox President Sarah Bond is setting up a team dedicated to preserving the Xbox digital library on future Xbox hardware, according to an email obtained by Windows Central. Microsoft has confirmed that the e-mail is genuine and will comment on the details at a later date.

Bond was promoted to Xbox president last October in a major reorganization of Microsoft and Xbox. The reorganization brought several new faces to positions of power, including Matt Booty, the new president of Xbox Game Content and Studios and overseer of ZeniMax Media.

Bond oversees, among other things, hardware and business strategy for the Xbox brand.

In an email, Bond revealed that Xbox has built a team dedicated to maintaining the current Xbox library into the future to ensure that the games people buy remain accessible." We have formed a new team dedicated to game preservation, which is important to all of us at Xbox and to the industry itself. We are building on our strong history of delivering backwards compatibility to our players and will remain committed to delivering a great Xbox game library for future generations of players to enjoy."

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Reportedly, Microsoft may share more about this team and its work during the Xbox Showcase, which is expected to take place on June 9, 2024.

As game licensing and the memory hole of game history continues to grow, more and more people are concerned about game preservation and accessibility; it will be interesting to see how Xbox addresses this issue.

In an email sent to Xbox employees, Bond touched on several topics, including work on next-generation hardware, which is "focused on making the biggest technological leap ever in one generation."

Other than this, Microsoft and Xbox have not said much about their plans for the next generation of consoles or what form they will take; the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 are still four years away, but rumors about the next generation are already running hot.

Microsoft is not shy about adding AI elements to future Xbox products. Bond reiterated this focus, saying, "We are innovating with game AI with a focus on delivering player-first, developer-first value for discovery, engagement, and creator speed."

How these buzzwords will manifest themselves in games and hardware in the future remains to be seen.

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