The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles are finally here, and they bring with them a host of optimized games that are designed to take advantage of their advanced new features. Whether you’re playing on the monolithic Series X or miniature Series S, there’s a long list of games that will make the most of your new hardware purchase on launch day. While most games are backward compatible, only a select few will have increased performance and better graphics on these new consoles. Thankfully, there’s an easy way to tell the difference between normal backward compatible games and games that are optimized for Xbox Series X|S.
How to Tell Which Games Are Optimized for Xbox Series X|S
You can see which of your games are optimized for Xbox Series X|S by sorting them by console type. Just follow the steps below to sort your games this way.
- Navigate to My Games & Apps.
- Select Sort A-Z above your game tiles.
- Change it to Group by Console Type.
- All games with enhancements and optimizations will be listed under “Optimized for Xbox Series X|S Games.”
Sorting your games in this way will split them into three categories. The first category is games that are optimized for Xbox Series X|S, the second is normal Xbox One games that can be played via backward compatibility, and the final category is backward compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games. You can sort games in this manner on any screen, so you can sort your owned games and Game Pass games this way too.
In the Xbox Store, things are a little different. Games that have enhancements on the Xbox Series X|S will be marked with a green X|S tag that says “Optimized.” If they’re also playable on Xbox One, they’ll be marked with a “Smart Delivery” tag as well. You can play non-optimized games on your new system just fine, but any games that take advantage of the new hardware will be marked as Optimized.
For example, Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition is marked with the X|S Optimized tag because it takes advantage of new features like ray tracing, but it is not marked with a Smart Delivery tag because the game is not playable on Xbox One, only Xbox Series X|S. On the contrary, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is marked with both an X|S Optimized tag and a Smart Delivery tag because it is playable on both Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, although it plays best with additional enhancements on Series X|S.
All Xbox Series X|S Optimized Games on Launch Day
There are 31 games optimized for Xbox Series X and Series S available on day one, and each of them is listed below.
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- Borderlands 3
- Bright Memory 1.0
- Cuisine Royale
- Dead by Daylight
- Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition
- Dirt 5
- Enlisted
- Evergate
- The Falconeer
- Fortnite
- Forza Horizon 4
- Gears 5
- Gears Tactics
- Grounded
- King Oddball
- Maneater
- Manifold Garden
- NBA 2K21
- Observer: System Redux
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Planet Coaster
- Sea of Thieves
- Tetris Effect: Connected
- The Touryst
- War Thunder
- Warhammer: Chaosbane Slayer Edition
- Watch Dogs: Legion
- WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship
- Yakuza: Like a Dragon
- Yes, Your Grace
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will also be enhanced on the new systems, although that will not release until November 13, which is just a few days after the new Xbox consoles hit store shelves. Destiny 2 is also getting optimizations, although Bungie has stated that that patch is not coming until December 8. The Beyond Light expansion is a launch title for Xbox Series X|S, however, and you can play the normal backward compatible version of Destiny 2 on your Xbox Series X|S if you want to dive into the DLC as soon as possible.
The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are available for purchase now. Just because a game is not marked as optimized doesn’t mean there aren’t benefits to playing it on Xbox Series X|S. You can enjoy increased resolution and framerates across the board as well as the special Auto HDR feature.
Published: Nov 6, 2020 10:15 pm