The Xbox One X looks to take a considerable number of games to the next level graphically with specially enhanced titles. The list of games that will take advantage of the Xbox One X’s superb stats sits at around 160 entries right now, but not all of those will be available when the console comes out. To take advantage of the extra horsepower of the Xbox One X games have to be patched by their developers, but it does take a little extra time to get those updates ready.
Also: Xbox One X Is So Much More Than the Most Powerful Console
Fortunately, according to Xbox Senior Director Albert Penello, around 70 Xbox One X Enhanced games should be ready when the console releases next week. That’s the number of titles that should be available to take advantage of Microsoft’s latest console’s most significant upgrade over the original Xbox One: 4K resolution.
I think we’re going to hit in the neighborhood of 70 right around release. I’m pleased given how many people said no devs would support 🙂
— Albert Penello (@albertpenello) October 30, 2017
The world is slowly marching towards 4K UHD as the new standard, and Sony beat Microsoft to the 4K gaming punch with the PlayStation 4 Pro. However, since most PS4 Pro games use checkerboard rendering to upscale to 4K, the Xbox One X will have the advantage of higher graphical fidelity since it will be able to render some games in 4K natively. Additionally, even games that don’t get special patches to make them “enhanced” for Xbox One X can have faster loading times, improved textures, and faster framerates.
Any unpatched game will see faster loading times, improved textures and faster frame-rate/resolution depending on how the game was built.
— Albert Penello (@albertpenello) October 30, 2017
However, the whole thing will make choosing which version of a game a little harder for consumers. If you own a PS4 Pro and an Xbox One X, it might be hard to pick which version of a title you want if it’s offered for both consoles. Since “PS4 Pro Enhanced” games have been somewhat ambiguous as to what is actually improved, hopefully choosing a version of a title doesn’t come down to some weird pseudo-science or fanboy wars.