Can Xbox One continue on as gaming’s “low-end” console option?

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  Dirt 5's racing doesn't immediately look like a step above current-gen consoles, but its trailer did emphasize reflections and particle effects, which the Xbox Series X may boost.

For months now, Microsoft has been talking up the raw power increase coming to consoles courtesy of the Xbox Series X. At the same time, though, Microsoft is encouraging internal and external studios to make Series X games that continue to work on seven-year-old Xbox One hardware as well.

"As our content comes out over the next year, two years, all of our games, sort of like PC, will play up and down that family of devices," head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty said in a January interview with MCV. "We want to make sure that if someone invests in Xbox between now and [Series X] that they feel that they made a good investment and that we're committed to them with content."

Does that mean developers will have to hold back their truly "next-generation" ideas to accommodate players with outdated consoles? Microsoft's Head of Xbox Phil Spencer doesn't think so. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz last week, Spencer also referenced the PC gaming ecosystem as an analogy to explain how support for the Xbox One would continue to work:

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