Microsoft is detailing the first games that will support the company’s upcoming Smart Delivery program for cross-generation games between the Xbox Series X and Xbox One. Smart Delivery is Microsoft’s free upgrade program for the Xbox Series X that lets you buy an Xbox One version of a game and get the Xbox Series X version free of charge. It also means you can buy an Xbox Series X game with Smart Delivery and get the Xbox One version, too.
It’s designed to prevent situations where you buy the latest and greatest game on Xbox One in the coming months and then have to repurchase it again for the Xbox Series X. Not every studio is going to participate in Smart Delivery, but it’s starting to look like a large majority will. Microsoft has detailed 13 new titles coming to the Xbox Series X today, and nine of them will support Smart Delivery. These nine join CD Projekt Red’s promise to support Smart Delivery for Cyberpunk 2077, and Microsoft’s commitment that all of its first-party Xbox Games Studios titles that support both consoles will include the free upgrade.
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Third-party studios like Ubisoft, Sega, and Bandai Namco Entertainment are backing Microsoft’s Smart Delivery upgrades, but there’s one big exception: EA. While EA unveiled Madden NFL 21 for the Xbox Series X today, the company is not pledging its commitment to supporting Smart Delivery. Instead, EA is offering its own free upgrade offer, but only if players purchase Madden NFL 21 on Xbox One by December 31st and upgrade to Xbox Series X by March 31st, 2021.
EA’s move brings the total up to 11 games getting free upgrades so far, and now we’re waiting to see what other big game studios do with Smart Delivery. Still, it’s encouraging to see that the vast majority of games on Microsoft’s list today will support it. Microsoft hasn’t yet detailed which Xbox Game Studios titles will include Smart Delivery, but here are the first 10 games supporting Smart Delivery from third-party developers:
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft)
- Call of the Sea (Raw Fury)
- Chorus (Deep Silver)
- Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
- DiRT 5 (Codemasters)
- Scarlet Nexus (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
- Second Extinction (Systemic Reaction)
- The Ascent (Neon Giant / Curve Digital)
- Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 (Paradox Interactive)
- Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Sega)
