Xbox’s FPS Boost was first revealed back in March, delivering an elevated frame rate to five Bethesda games on Xbox Series X and S. Employing a variety of new methods to “nearly elevating the framerate” of select titles, this feature promised to make games visually smoother to bring even more immersive gameplay. Playing various EA games (available on EA Play/Game Pass Ultimate), FPS Boost on Xbox Series X and S is going even further, supporting up to 120hz. Even with what we already knew, this 120FPS Xbox Series X/S upgrade for these EA entries is a surprise but a welcome one.
From Titans and Zombies to Soldiers and Plants, every frame counts.
FPS Boost is coming to some of your favorite EA games: https://t.co/Ea0RaRmHG8 pic.twitter.com/YiyhYyujRi
— Xbox (@Xbox) April 22, 2021
In a Major Nelson update on the Microsoft Xbox website, we’re treated to a full list of which games are getting the 120FPS Xbox boost on what console. For clarity, the EA titles that have just been added are above the aforementioned Bethesda games, which have the 60hz FPS boost.
| Games | Xbox Series X | Xbox Series S | Off by Default on Series X | In Xbox Game Pass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battlefield 1 | 120hz | ___ | ✓ | ✓ (EA Play / Ultimate) |
| Battlefield 4 | 120hz | 120hz | ✓ (EA Play / Ultimate) | |
| Battlefield V | 120hz | ___ | ✓ | ✓ (EA Play / Ultimate) |
| Mirror’s Edge Catalyst | 120hz | ___ | ✓ (EA Play / Ultimate) | |
| Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare | 120hz | 120hz | ✓ (EA Play / Ultimate) | |
| Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville | 120hz | 120hz | ✓ | ✓ (EA Play / Ultimate) |
| Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 | 120hz | 120hz | ✓ (EA Play / Ultimate) | |
| Sea of Solitude | 60hz | 60hz | ✓ (EA Play / Ultimate) | |
| STAR WARS Battlefront | 120hz | 120hz | ✓ (EA Play / Ultimate) | |
| STAR WARS Battlefront II | 120hz | ___ | ✓ | ✓ (EA Play / Ultimate) |
| Titanfall | 120hz | ___ | ✓ (EA Play / Ultimate) | |
| Titanfall 2 | 120hz | 120hz | ✓ | ✓ (EA Play / Ultimate) |
| Unravel 2 | 120hz | 120hz | ✓ | ✓(EA Play / Ultimate) |
| Dishonored – Definitive Edition | 60hz | 60hz | ✓ | |
| Fallout 4 | 60hz | 60hz | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fallout 76 | 60hz | 60hz | ✓ | ✓ |
| Prey | 60hz | 60hz | ✓ | |
| The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition | 60hz | 60hz | ✓ | |
| Far Cry 4 | 60hz | 60hz | ||
| New Super Lucky’s Tale | 120hz | 120hz | ✓ | |
| Sniper Elite 4 | 60hz | 60hz | ✓ | |
| UFC 4 | 60hz | 60hz | ||
| Watch Dogs 2 | 60hz | 60hz |
As you can see, not all games getting the FPS Support for 120hz on Xbox Series X is the same case for the Series S. As FPS Boost essentially pushes game engines to render assets more quickly, the hardware they’re played on will be pushed even harder. With the Series X’s 12 teraflop GPU, that won’t be an issue for even the most graphically demanding titles on the list. However, with the Series S’s GPU containing just a third of the power, getting that 120FPS out of massive games like Star Wars Battlefront II is a no-go.
For the games you can play with the FPS Boost, though (and Auto HDR), checking if the feature’s running is no problem at all. Whilst in-game, tap the Xbox button on your controller, and you’ll notice the guide overlay indicator in the upper right corner telling you what features are running. To enable it, click on your game in the Xbox menu, go to “Manage game and add-ons”. Finally, you’ll find the boxes for “Auto HDR” and “FPS boost”, which you can enable and disable at your leisure. As if you’d actually turn it off, though.
What do you think about the 120FPS boost on the Xbox Series X and S? Let us know in the comments.
Charles G. Rouleau
Hi Ben, I have a question… I’ve read the same report on at least 10 websites and nobody mentions this: does the game have to be installed on the internal HD, or can it run from an external USB drive?