Topic: Question About Upgrade Feature

I have a question that I can't seem to find the answer for online: I just bought the series x and it came with cyberpunk for Xbox one. I also bought Elden ring that says it's for series x/one. when I try to play either they both need to upgrade. understandable for cyberpunk (Xbox one) but why does my Elden ring also require an upgrade if it states it's for series x?

Two words, "smart delivery". Most games for the series x, are the xbox one version on disc. To get the benefits of the series x, you have to upgrade.

@PleasantFish Its about having the version of the game for your specific console - whether that's the base XB1, the XB1X, Series S or Series X version. It doesn't matter what 'version' disc you buy, the only 'important' thing on the disc, and what you are actually purchasing is the 'licence' to play that game.

What you have purchased is a Licence to play those games on any 'current' Xbox console. When you put that disc into an Xbox, it will 'install' the game code specific to that hardware to your internal storage - whether from Disc (if the hardware matches the version on Disc) and/or trigger a download to ensure you get the 'version' for your specific hardware.

As you know, the XB1 is the 'weakest' platform and its 'visual' settings are often set 'lower' than XB1X as well as not having the RAM for 'high' quality textures etc so its 'pointless' having all those High Res textures for that version, then when you 'upgrade' to a Series X for example, you want all those but don't want to 'clog' your SSD with lower res assets that won't be used - so it just installs the 'assets' for Series X and all the modes (performance, quality etc and their various 'settings') so you automatically get the version for the hardware - its 'Smart Delivery'

The 'only' downside to this is that you can't really play games like Elden Ring via Backwards Compatibility on more 'powerful' hardware. You can't play the XB1 version on a 'Series' console to 'brute force' a 'perfect' frame rate because it will 'update/install' the Series version designed for that hardware. That's why the PS4 Pro version running on a PS5 is the 'only' console version to deliver a perfect 60fps and perfect frame delivery - but its sacrificing that extra layer of detail, sacrificing draw distance (much more pop-in) etc because its running the PS4 Pro version, with the 'compromises' they had to make to the settings to run on that 'level' of hardware and not really pushing your PS5 which does a LOT more graphically, but drops frames.

Basically, with Xbox, you have 'Smart Delivery' which is designed to ensure you have the version of the game that was specifically optimised for your Hardware and enable you to play the same game on any current Xbox. If you upgrade your XB1 to a Series console, you don't have to buy the 'Series' version to get that version on your 'new' console, don't have to lose your progress or play a 'downgraded' version built for 'weaker' hardware etc. Not only that, if you move the XB1 to a 'spare' TV, you can play there if others are using the main TV.

Its basically giving you the 'version' optimised for your Hardware - regardless of what console you have or what consoles you upgrade too. At the end of the day, you are only purchasing a 'License' to play a game and with Xbox, that is a 'generic' Xbox license (not specific to XB1 or Series) and so that License will ensure you have the 'game code' for whatever console you own. With Digital purchases, you buy a Digital license linked to your account and that may allow you to play on ALL current Xbox consoles and PC too. PS+/XB1 GWG games are NOT giving you 'free' games, they are giving you 'conditional' licenses to play those games - on the condition you remain Subscribed, Game Pass too isn't giving you 'free' games- its giving you 'conditional' licenses - with the condition you remain subscribed and the game remains in GP. Break any 'conditions' or any 'terms of service' that you agreed to - then you can lose access to those games. You NEVER own the Game, just a 'licence' to play - the Software is owned by the dev/publisher.

Therefore, the Licence on Disk is giving you the 'optimum' software for the 'hardware' as you have purchased a Licence. That's why if you 'upgrade' hardware, you'll automatically get the 'software' designed for that - either as an 'update' or fresh download as it assumes you want to play that version.

@BAMozzy Thanks for your in-Depth Reply, really helped me understand how it works. the last console I had was the 360 so I guess the days of plug and play are gone.

@PleasantFish Even back on the 360, you only ever bought a 'Licence' to access the Software as the actual 'software' is owned by the Publisher/Devs. The difference back then though was that you 'could' load the games directly from the Physical media so it was more 'plug & play' but then some games had to install to HDD to get the 'full' or 'best' version. Battlefield 3 had a 8gb install for better textures etc, Forza Motorsport had an extra disc to install more cars/tracks etc. These were 'optional' on 360 because of MS's '360 Arcade' model that only had 4GB of internal storage but on PS3, they often had games that would take an hour or more to 'install' before you could start to play.

As games got bigger, the need for more data to be transferred meant that CD's and Blurays were too limited on bandwidth so they had to be installed to HDD's and now with next gen games, SSD's to be able to move vast quantities of Data around as quickly as possible.

What Smart Delivery is doing, is assessing what hardware you are playing and ONLY installing the data specifically required. If you are on an XB1, you don't need 4k quality assets taking up space on your HDD when the game will never use them on that system and you don't want 'lower' quality assets taking up valuable SSD space on a Series X. If you only play in English, you don't 'need' all the other Language packs (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian etc) either so why 'install' those and take up room?

As I said, you have always bought a Licence to play whatever game it entitles you to play and on that specific hardware only. The only reason the 'game-codes' were also supplied was because that's how they distributed it. If you bought Software on PC, you'd know that it has a 'Licence' key and that's essentially what you buy - a 'key' to access the software and without a 'valid' key, the software is 'useless'. The Licence Key you buy is on the Disc - which is why the software installed on your SSD/HDD is not accessible without the Disc in the Drive - an 'issue' for BC on Series S as you can't use your licences on disc to access these.

Its much easier to think that its 'just' the licence you buy and that licence is what determines your access. On 'Xbox', that license could be for all 'current' Xbox platforms so instead of having to buy a 'disc' with your specific hardware related game code/assets, smart delivery installs just the version required. As that licence is 'valid' across a variety of Hardware specs, it doesn't matter if you upgrade/downgrade, play on multiple different Xbox consoles - you'll get the 'right' version of the game optimised for your hardware specifically.