Xbox’s new ‘FPS Boost’ feature is the real deal

Yesterday Microsoft released FPS Boost, a new backward compatibility feature for Xbox Series X and S. FPS Boost will dramatically increase framerate in specific and older games when you play them on a next-gen Xbox. After playing around with FPS Boost for a bit, I’m excited and impressed. It could be a big change in the way we experience old console games.

Microsoft has big plans for FPS Boost, promising to support many more games in the future, but for now only five carriers can enjoy it. Those are Far Cry 4, New Super Lucky’s Tale, Sniper Elite 4, UFC 4 and Watch Dogs 2. Two of these titles, New Super Lucky Tale and Sniper 4, are currently on Game Pass. So I downloaded them to see how well FPS Boost worked.

My first impression was not very good. I started Sniper 4 and it wasn’t 60 frames per second. It was still running at 30, with dips below. Then I started New Super Lucky Tale and it was the same. It was running at 60 fps, not the promised 120. A quick Google search appeared to show others had this problem. (There is currently no on-screen icon telling you that FPS Boost is on, and there is no way to turn it on or off. This system update will be available this spring. ) I restarted my Xbox Series X and started the games again and luckily FPS Boost started working. But I’m glad it didn’t work at first as I was able to compare games better before and after enabling the feature.

People, I am very, very impressed.

Sniper 4 was slow and bulky before FPS Boost. I struggled to play. With FPS Boost it now runs at 60 fps almost locked down. I played the entire first level and only saw a few minor dips, which I think most people in most situations won’t even notice. Doubling the framerate greatly improves the game. Aiming, shooting, moving, everything feels better. For example, I hadn’t planned on playing the entire first level, but I did because I was having too much fun to stop.

One thing to keep in mind is that while FPS Boost sounds like magic, capable of doubling the performance of older games, it’s not some miracle feature that improves everything. The resolution, textures, and onscreen HUD found in Sniper 4 are still the same as on Xbox One. On my silly big 4k OLED display it does show, but the smoother performance always brings a huge improvement to the overall experience. I’ll probably play the other levels now.

New Super Lucky Tale is more interesting. Microsoft claims that FPS Boost will eventually double the framerate in many games, and even 60fps titles will benefit. Concrete example Lucky’s Tale, which now runs at a solid 120 fps. It won’t be something you can see if you have a TV or monitor that supports 120Hz. That stupid, expensive big TV I mentioned earlier supports 120Hz and shit, New Super Lucky Tale feels great in FPS Boost mode.

Before FPS Boost, New Super Lucky Tale felt good and looked good enough. But running at 120Hz, everything feels sharper and more responsive. Even going back and opening the menus feels better at this frame rate. Running and jumping benefit enormously from the doubled performance. I felt like I had more control over the character, and combined with the Xbox Series X’s improved load times, it was once again difficult to quit playing. Like Sniper 4, I am delighted to go back and play more of this delicious platform game. I was afraid that to play Lucky’s Tale right after playing the newly re-released Super Mario 3D World wouldn’t be fair to the poor fox. But now I’m afraid to go back to Super Mario 3D World.

What’s awesome about FPS Boost is that, according to Microsoft, these improvements require little or in some cases no work on the part of the developer. This means that older, less popular games that are unlikely to be remastered or receive next-gen fixes could still see drastically improved performance in the future if Microsoft chooses them for FPS Boost processing. It’s also exciting for games that have never been released on PC and get stuck on consoles like the Xbox One. Without the PC ports, huge performance improvements like this were unlikely. Now things have changed. Can we see Red Dead Redemption finally at 60 fps? I’m not going to bet my life on it, but I’m happy to say yes, it now seems like a possibility. The future is exciting.

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