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On February 24, 2020, Microsoft outlined some of their features and plans for their next-generation Xbox. That platform, currently online known as the Xbox Series X, will have a very welcome feature that has, so far, not been announced by other platforms yet.
Microsoft is calling it "Smart Delivery." This new initiative by Microsoft will ensure that every single one of their Xbox Game Studios titles will only need to be purchased once. That single purchase will allow you to play on either the current Xbox One or the next-generation Xbox Series X. You won't need to purchase a special Xbox Series X copy of the same game. You won't need to pay some "microtransaction" fee to upgrade to the Series X version of the game.
It's just one purchase and that's it.
Now, Microsoft says that while this Smart Delivery system will be used on all exclusive Xbox Game Studios titles, like Halo Infinite, they cannot necessarily guarantee that it will be used by third-party studios. They are naturally leaving to the door wide open for any and all studios to make use of Smart Delivery to those that want to make use of it.
Well, it didn't take long for the first third-party to announce their commitment to Smart Delivery. Mere minutes after Microsoft posted their new write-up about the Series X and Smart Delivery, CD Projekt RED took to Twitter.
You read that correctly. CD Projekt RED looks to be all onboard with the idea of Smart Delivery. To that end, they are committing to give those that purchase Cyberpunk 2077 for the Xbox One a free upgrade to the Xbox Series X release when it's available.
Thus far, of all the developers and publishers in the world, only CD Projekt RED has voiced their commitment to this free upgrade system. They offer Cyberpunk 2077 key with the upgrade. Though it would be nice to speculate that other studios will announce similar plans with upcoming titles, it's just too early to say for sure whether or not many others will follow suit. I would like to believe that others will offer these free upgrades, but I also wouldn't be surprised if many studios pretended like the Smart Delivery system doesn't even exist.
We also don't know whether or not Sony will incorporate a similar system with PlayStation 4 and the upcoming PlayStation 5. If they are, they certainly haven't said anything yet. In fact, they really haven't said much at all recently about the PlayStation 5. With Sony having also pulled out of a GDC 2020 appearance due to concerns about the Coronavirus, it may still be a while before we hear anything new.
