Backward compatibility is an important issue for many gamers. It lets players keep their longtime favorites without needing to hold onto every console they’ve ever owned. Backward compatibility also makes it easier for newer players to discover old classics.
Microsoft’s done a decent job of maintaining backward compatibility across itsXboxconsoles. Part of its 20th-anniversary celebration includes announcing its largest-ever drop of backward compatible and next-gen enhanced games. However, it appears that this will be the final round of compatibility updates.
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Earlier today, Xbox addedmore than 70 Original Xbox and Xbox 360 gamesto the Xbox One and Series X/S backward compatibility library. These include more than twenty games from the Original Xbox. Major franchises includeMax Payne,F.E.A.R.,Skate, andDead or Alive, and many others. Among the Original Xbox games are classic titles likeDead or Alive Ultimate,Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2,Star Wars: Starfighter, andOtogi.
All of the newly backward compatible gameswill support Auto HDR, and many will receive resolution enhancements. A few are also getting FPS Boosts on Xbox One and Series X/S. This includes rolling out FPS Boost for Cloud gaming for select titles such asFallout 4,Fallout 76, andThe Evil Within. Xbox also plans to eventually bring FPS Boost to several additional titles, including theGears of Warfranchise,Fallout 3,Fallout: New Vegas, Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion,Dragon Age: Origins,Dead Space 2,Dead Space 3,Alan Wake,andSonic Generations.
The bad news is that fans shouldn’t expect to see any future additions to the library of backward compatible games. Buried in the announcement is the reveal that the 20th-anniversary update will be the last addition to the library. Microsoft cited a combination of “licensing, legal, and technical constraints,” preventing the company from adding more games.
Xbox launched its Compatibility Program in 2015, a few years after the release of the Xbox One.The console could play Xbox 360 gamesthrough backward compatibility, with the ability to run select Original Xbox games announced in 2017. The trend continued into the Series X and Series S, with around 600 Xbox 360 games now supported on the platforms.
However, only a fraction ofgames from the Original Xbox are backward compatible on Xbox One and Series X/S. This includes many games in the Original Xbox’s “Platinum Hits” catalog, such as third-person shooterMech Assaultand launch titleBlood Wake. As such, today’s announcement is bittersweet for anyone whose favorite OriginalXboxgame didn’t make the list.
