Xbox One will have Limited Games on Xbox Backwards Compatibility Program, E3 2017 Update

Microsoft’s Xbox division had a great time at the E3 2017 event where all the best games and a brand new 4K console, Xbox One X was revealed.

Along with these announcements, the division’s head Phil Spencer confirmed that the original Xbox games will be coming to the console under its backwards compatibility program.

The Xbox 360 backwards compatibility program is a huge success which allowed gamers to experience the most amazing titles from the past. It was a great addition because you don’t have to have a working old generation console and it worked seamlessly on the new Xbox One console. However, talking after the show during an interview, Phil Spencer confirmed that they won’t be releasing too many games from the original Xbox because it is a huge technical challenge they have to overcome.

“While we would love to bring all the games to the newest machine, there are several reasons while the original Xbox backwards game library will be small compared to the Xbox 360 games. The game rights which have to be secured is a huge problem as a lot of studios may or may not be available right now. Besides, the biggest hurdle comes in the form of technical requirements. The games are old, were built on a different architecture and cannot be simply imported to the new one,” said Spencer.

Even though, Microsoft took the time to announce that they are proud to bring Xbox support on Xbox One and have an emulator running games on it, they didn’t reveal too much about the library or the number of games to be made available. The announcement was done in a couple of minutes before other Xbox One X 4K titles were mentioned during the E3 2017 conference. The confirmed titles are Fuzion Frenzy and Crimson Skies. The backwards compatibility program is expected to launch later this year with a couple more titles.

Phil Spencer had some details share on it but more technical aspects of Xbox games running on an emulator and how well they work is something we cannot comment on at the moment. The team is busy working on releasing 4K games that run at 60 FPS which is where majority of the focus will be whereas this backwards program is primarily to add some hype to the comprehensive gaming experience Xbox One aims to deliver on the same console. The higher powered Xbox One X costs about $499.