Since its announcement, Xbox fans have been rather curious to learn more about what makes the next console from Microsoft unique enough for the $499 price tag. Today, the tech giant confirmed that while its predecessors will be able to play 4K enabled games, only the Xbox One X will utilize the feature.
What this means is that the Xbox One and Xbox One S will only download the 1080p assets. The two prior consoles use upscaling to fit the games to larger 4K resolution televisions. But even if the game has the assets for the big screens, Xbox One X will be the only means to meeting the full potential of that coveted 4K gaming experience.
“Assets are tied to your console and not the TV its connected to,” Stevivor reports after an exclusive discussion with a Microsoft representative.
“This means, regardless of the TV you are playing on, 4K assets will be downloaded to Xbox One X (if available) and the standard 1080p assets will be downloaded to an Xbox One S.”
Furthermore, developers will be getting better tools to make downloading more efficient, including 4K and language specific assets that will make the install footprint smaller. “This ability to intelligently install the best assets for each console and language are available on all Xbox One devices, and it will be up to the developer of the game to determine the specific implementation,” Microsoft clarified.
Nothing has been said as of yet concerning Windows 10 PC games that have 4K assets available.
