Head of Xbox Phil Spencer recently talked about Smart Delivery during a recent interview with IGN, which will allow Xbox Series X owners to upgrade from the Xbox One version of participating games for free on Xbox Series X, such as Cyberpunk 2077. Speaking candidly, Spencer admitted not all partners are fans of the idea:
"If we get criticised by things kind of behind the scenes, by like partners, we're a little disruptive to some of the traditional business models that people have liked in console gaming. As an example, a new console comes out and people have to go re-buy games that they wanted to go play and there's an up-res or a remastered version - we come out with Smart Delivery and say hey, if somebody's already bought a game, they should be able to play that game and we should deliver the right bits on the console that they own to play absolutely the best version of that game..."
In the same breath, Spencer also talked about some of the other aspects of Xbox's vision that some partners allegedly aren't keen on, including cross-play and the Xbox Play Anywhere program, which allows players to buy one copy of a game and get access on both Xbox One and PC.
"You know, cross-play, cross-buy, cross-progression, there are kind of pockets of console space that want to fight those things, but I think if you put the player's best interests at the centre, and say you want to build an environment around them, even when you're taking some near-term loss over the traditional console opportunity, I believe in the long run that will win."
What are your thoughts on what you've heard about Smart Delivery so far? Let us know in the comments.
[source youtu.be]
Comments 10
I would say Phil is really for the players, I like the stuff he is doing
You can bet the cancer of gaming, EA, are one of those who don't like it.
And add Activision to the don't like pile as well.
@SuperNintendoMii @Murray
Exactly. Phil is doing this how it should be done. If you look at the launch of the Xbox One & PS4, how many of those games were just “upgraded” versions of games on the 360 & PS3? It was ridiculous. Sony LOVED doing this, as well.
It’s just a cheap way for these companies to try to make some easy $ during a console launch. I’m glad Xbox is going a different way with this.
If PlayStation fans want to buy The Last Of Us for the 3rd time, let them. I have zero interest in purchasing Gears 4 again just to get a slight resolution boost. It should just work the same way PC gamers have been doing it forever now.
@KelticDevil remember at the start of this gen where there was this relentless begging for last gen games to be 'remastered'? And subsequently there was a flood of the things? I never understood it, I had zero interest in it, I buy a next gen console to play new games, not games I've spent an entire generation playing.
You can bet if there's a way for someone like EA to opt out of this, they will do. But if companies follow other like CD Project Red, it will really cause a stir. If PS5 doesn't do what Xbox Series X does, and people have to rebut these 'remasters' on PS5, it'll be a coup for Xbox. Hopefully, when next gen comes round we won't see message boards full of "plz port xxx to xxx in 60fps", though I get the fact that it mere wishful thinking
@SuperNintendoMii
I agree. Like you said, you know it’s the big publishers that hate this. EA, Activision, UbiSoft, etc.
This even happened at the beginning of the 360 era too. Lots of OG Xbox games got “360 versions” at launch & the improvements were minimal, at best.
But if you let everyone play the absolute best version of the game you remove the incentive to produce better versions of games. You might create a situation where there is no point creating definitive editions of games like Tales of Vesperia for Xbox because you wouldn’t be able to sell it again for the price of a new game.
Not everyone is as consumer friendly as we want to be and expect gamers to choose a 'single' platform to buy a game for and if they want to play it on higher spec hardware or even a different platform (like PC), they should have to rebuy the EXACT same game again...
How dare MS be so consumer friendly!!!
I love this. And by doing this, they're setting the standard for Sony as well. If PlayStation doesn't do the same, they might lose this gen
@Tulio517
Yes, the decisions MS is making will have a very perceptible change in how the industry carries itself going forward. If it's to be for the better, it'll be thanks to initiatives like these.
Many studios have re-released games in this generation. No doubt that there is resistance in this front.
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