Microsoft today lifts the lid on its brand new FPS Boost technology – a series of system level tweaks that allows legacy Xbox One titles to run with twice or even four times the frame-rate on Xbox Series consoles. Far Cry 4, Watch Dogs 2, UFC 4, Sniper Elite 4 and New Super Lucky’s Tale are the first five titles to support the new feature – and we’ve had a chance to test them all. First impressions are impressive and the gaming experience is transformed on every game.
We’ve seen a doubling of performance on older games running on the new wave of consoles already, of course. The difference with FPS Boost is that Microsoft’s Xbox compatibility team is working its magic this time around to adjust frame-rate caps at the Direct3D level, increasing performance within the system, without any changes at all to the original code. As far as the games are concerned, they’re still running at their original frame-rates.
Some games will nearly double frame rates, and Microsoft says it has seen a few instances where backward-compatible titles even quadruple in frame rates. The first games to support FPS Boost are Far Cry 4, New Super Lucky’s Tale, Sniper Elite 4, UFC 4, and Watch Dogs 2. The improvements vary across games, with New Super Lucky’s Tale now running at up to 120fps, and UFC 4 includes 60fps performance on the Xbox Series S specifically.
“This is just the beginning,” explains Paul Eng, a senior program manager at Xbox. “We will announce and release more titles featuring FPS Boost soon, as we roll out new menu icons and system settings in an upcoming system update.” This new dashboard update will arrive in the spring and include the ability to toggle compatibility options on games. You’ll be able to disable auto HDR or toggle this new FPS Boost feature on and off to really see the impact it provides or simply play games in their original form.
Microsoft will be rolling out FPS Boost more broadly soon with this new dashboard update. While the initial list is rather limited, Microsoft says it’s planning to announce more games that support FPS Boost in the coming months.
