Microsoft has done a pretty incredible job over the past five years or so improving our old libraries and integrating them into newer consoles. In the Xbox One X era, the team focused on improving Xbox 360 and original Xbox games for the system, while the FPS Boost program was a huge feature at the start of Xbox Series X | S. However, did you know that another backwards compatibility program apparently couldn’t start?
Prior to the release of the Xbox Series X and S, Microsoft talked a lot about the backwards compatibility of new systems. In addition to current-gen simply supporting the entire Xbox One library and beyond, the team also talked about how they’re working on several programs to help improve some of these older titles.
One of these programs was being adjusted to focus on increasing the resolution of certain games, as mentioned in an Xbox Wire article from March 2020. Basically, like FPS Boost, Microsoft was apparently working on a feature at the system level to help improve visuals in certain games without the need for developer intervention. The company used Gears of War: Ultimate Edition as an example, showing the game running in native 4K on the Series X.
Image: Gears of War Ultimate Edition in 4K, Microsoft
As of this writing, the Gears 2015 remaster is still a 1080p title, and audiences were never able to experience this Xbox Series X resolution boost. That being said, some outlets were able to see it in action – tech insiders at Digital Foundry even prepared a helpful comparison of the two versions of Gears Ultimate in March 2020!
So fast forward nearly three years and we wonder what happened to this feature. Since FPS Boost has come and gone ever since, unfortunately we no longer expect to see any sort of “Res Boost” program come to life. While we’re glad Xbox managed to bump up quite a few frame rates before running out of supported titles, we would have liked to see Xbox One games with visual improvements.
The nature of the technique could also have led to older impulses. While many Xbox One titles have been ported to current-gen by their respective development teams, “Resolution Boost” could have transformed some first-gen Xbox One games. Imagine Ryse: Son of Rome or Sunset Overdrive running in 4K – they would look amazing even in 2023!
Unfortunately, for now, we have to let the dream die and settle for the incredible improvements that FPS Boost offers. Yet every once in a while we can get caught dreaming of Ryse’s great battle scenes in glorious 4K…
Is there an old Xbox One game you’d like to play in 4K? Tell us in the comments!
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Ben is a fan of action, racing, and direct fire in every video game he can get his hands on. When he’s not playing, Ben spends his time listening to too many Guns N’ Roses, watching football, and probably eating somewhere.