Microsoft's May 2020 Inside Xbox event showed off a variety of third-party games coming to the Xbox Series X at or around launch. The presentation gave fans a first look at gameplay footage and a better idea of the games that are coming to next-gen, announcing games like Scorn, Call of the Sea and Scarlet Nexus while revealing more information on games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2.
Throughout the presentation, developers and Microsoft employees continually referred to "Smart Delivery," a feature the company has been promoting as an important aspect of game compatibility moving forward. Essentially, this means that, if you purchase a game, you will be able to play it regardless of which Xbox console you are using, and you won't have to repurchase a game to get the version made to take advantage of the Series X's improvements.
Smart Delivery is a consumer-friendly feature that encourages Xbox users who are considering upgrading to the Series X continue buying games for Xbox One with the guarantee that they will not need to repurchase them in a couple of months. Microsoft has already promised to use Smart Delivery on all of their first-party titles, including the highly-anticipated Halo Infinite. Inside Xbox finally showed that many third-party developers will also take advantage of this technology.
This is part of Microsoft's general attitude towards gaming recently. Between Game Pass, which offers first-party Xbox titles at launch as part of the service, and already announcing plans to release games cross-generationally for at least the first year of the Series X's lifespan, the company has made it easier to access its games. By guaranteeing that major titles, especially ones that are coming out before, at or just after launch, are playable on either console alleviates the concern many gamers have during this transitionary periods in which they may choose to hold off on buying a game in order to play it on the more powerful system later on. It's also great for consumers who are not yet sure about spending hundreds of dollars on a new system, as they won't feel pressured to jump in at launch.
While it was good to see nine third-party games using Smart Delivery, this does raise some concerns. EA, for example, is taking a different approach to next-gen upgrades. While it did announce that those who purchase Madden NFL 21 on Xbox One will be eligible to get a free copy for Series X, this is limited to those who buy the game before December 31 of this year and upgrade to the Series X by March 31, 2021. This puts the pressure back on gamers to upgrade sooner rather than later.
Of course, Madden isn't the kind of game that pushes system upgrades on its own, and the fact that it's an annual release that typically launches in August means that, by April 2021, we'll likely only be four months out from Madden NFL 22. But EA's more complicated and limited approach opens the door for more third-parties to do the same. While major developers like CD Projekt Red and Ubisoft have already expressed support for Smart Delivery and announced that Cyberpunk 2077 and Assassin's Creed Valhalla will use it, if others choose to follow EA's path, it'll make things more complicated and confusing and risks tainting a good, consumer-friendly idea.