Update: Microsoft has confirmed that the 18 titles listed on their official site are for the preview version of the Xbox 360 backwards compatibility feature, and that more will be available when it launches fully in the Holiday season.
A statement from a Microsoft spokesperson to CraveOnline reads: “Our goal is to give gamers access to the largest game catalog ever on one console. With new games added to the roster every month, gamers can play both generations of games on one console and experience the greatest games lineup in Xbox history — exclusively on Xbox One. We’ll have over 100 titles this holiday, with hundreds more added in the months to come. We look forward to sharing more games and details closer to launch.”
Original Story: One of the biggest announcements to come from Microsoft’s E3 2015 press conference was its backwards compatibility with the Xbox 360. Using an onstage demo of the original Mass Effect being played on the Xbox One (and making use of its screenshot feature), the announcement was met with rapturous applause from the conference’s attendees.
However, a post on the official Xbox website listing the games that will support backwards compatibility reveals that only 18 Xbox 360 games will be available to play on the Xbox One when the feature is launched later this year.
The games listed are as follows:
- Banjo Kazooie: N n B
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Banjo-Tooie
- BattleBlock Theater
- Defense Grid
- Geometry Wars Evolved
- Hexic HD
- Jetpac Refuelled
- Kameo
- Mass Effect
- Perfect Dark
- Perfect Dark Zero
- Small Arms
- Super Meat Boy
- Toy Soldiers
- Toy Soldiers: Cold War
- Viva Piñata
- Viva Piñata: TIP
So basically, a lot of Rare games, a couple of Xbox 360 launch titles that no one would really want to revisit and then a smattering of indie games.
Of course, Microsoft could will bolster this line-up in the future as and when publishers agree to let their games become backwards compatible, but considering the Xbox 360’s support of the original Xbox started out small, too, before eventually being forgotten about, this is a little disheartening.
We hope this number swells after the features comes out of its preview stages, but given Microsoft’s track record with backwards compatibility, we’re certainly skeptical of the future of backwards compatibility with the Xbox One.
