Is Fallout 76 Xbox One X Enhanced?

Is Fallout 76 Xbox One X Enhanced?

Fallout 76 is the next entry into the ever-so-popular Fallout series from Bethesda. It’s bigger than ever and features multiplayer for the first time in the franchise’s history. With that in mind, it’s okay to perhaps wonder if the game will look as good as past Bethesda games. Sure, it’s newer, but it has a lot more going on and as anyone familiar with the company’s games know, there are almost always a plethora of bugs hidden within your experience (looking at you, Skyrim on PS3). Still, though, what we’ve played so far is promising, at least in terms of how it runs, so fear not. But, will the game come packaged with those special Xbox One X enhancements? Is Fallout 76 Xbox One X enhanced?

In 2018, it’s tough to find a massive triple-A title akin to something like Fallout launch without Xbox One X enhancements. That’s not to say that it doesn’t happen — it just doesn’t happen often. While Fallout 76 isn’t first party (it’s third party), it still falls right in line with some of Microsoft’s own software meaning that yes, Fallout 76 is Xbox One X enhanced. What does that mean, though?

Well, the short answer is that it means Fallout 76 will run in 4K and utilize HDR (although the Xbox One S features HDR capabilities too).

Anyone who gets into the nitty gritty of video game visuals and the numbers behind them knows that 4K can mean a number of things. There’s upscaled 4K, which is often what the PS4 Pro utilizes, and native 4K, which is what the Xbox One X is known for targeting.

4K refers to 4,000 pixels placed horizontally and 2,000 placed vertically. When a game utilizes upscaled 4K, that means it is taking a 1080p source and upscaling it to 4K. That isn’t what it sounds like though. Developers aren’t taking a 1080p source visual and stretching it out to be roughly four times the resolution — that would look terrible. What’s happening is that the 1080p source is stretched some (in a way that isn’t distracting and doesn’t look out of place) and interpolated, meaning that dead or open space is filled with intermediate pixels.

Without an extremely careful eye, you would never notice these intermediate pixels, but a look under the hood reveals why native 4K is better than upscaled 4K. In native 4K, there is no upscaling or intermediate pixels on the screen. The visual source is simply 4K.

In this case of Fallout 76, Bethesda is targeting native 4K, but until the game comes out, nobody will know for sure. Regardless, Fallout 76 is Xbox One X enhanced, which means the game will run at 4K and feature HDR.

For more information about Fallout 76, be sure to check out our Fallout 76 guide wiki. There, you’ll find tips, tricks, walkthroughs and more to help you survive on the country roads of West Virginia.