Xbox Games On An External Hard Drive Will Be Playable Straight Away On The Xbox Series X/S

While the new generation of consoles set to release this November is promising huge advances in performance, upgrading to next-gen has never been more confusing. Now, some details about backwards compatibility and external storage are being cleared up for the Xbox Series X/S.

For players who use an external USB SSD or HDD to store and play games on their Xbox One, the process is simple. “It is easy as unplugging your existing external USB 3.1 HDD or SSD from your Xbox One and connecting it to your Xbox Series X/S and all your games are instantly available,” Xbox director of program management Jason Ronald explained in an interview posted to Xbox Wire. “You can continue to play your favorite Xbox One games, including backward-compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games, directly from the external hard drive.”

The interview also confirmed that Quick Resume, a new feature that allows the next-gen Xbox to pause games in the background even while other games are being played, will also work for games being loaded off an external hard drive or the Seagate Storage Expansion Card. The Expansion Card is a new bespoke storage product just for the Xbox Series X/S, which you may need given the new generation of Xbox supports backwards compatible games going back three generations.

The Xbox Series X and S launch on November 10. While you wait, check out GameSpot’s hands-on experience with a preview build of the Series X.