Released for Xbox One in 2015
- by Ben Kerry
In 2015, Microsoft faced a challenging start with its latest Xbox console features, and it was relying on a significant announcement to win back long-time supporters. Fast forward to the team’s E3 Showcase in June—and it more than meets expectations. Xbox 360 backward compatibility was confirmed for Xbox One, and the audience erupted with excitement. Finally, Xbox enthusiasts could enjoy their vast 360 libraries on Microsoft’s new ‘all-in-one’ entertainment device.
Who here remembers that moment? Now, looking ahead to 2025, we want to take a moment to reflect on that nearly 10-year-old announcement. Seriously, it has been a full decade of enjoying incredible Xbox 360 games on current console hardware—which eventually included the Xbox Series X and S when they launched in November 2020.
In the end, over 500 Xbox 360 games were added to the program, alongside a smaller selection of original Xbox titles; which were still received with open arms. Of course, there are notable exclusions that never made it into the library—especially games that encountered licensing issues—but looking back, it still feels like a miracle that Microsoft managed to include this many Xbox classics into the backward compatibility program.
Another feature we truly want to highlight here is FPS Boost. Everyone knows this wasn’t strictly a backward compatibility announcement, but this current-gen special feature has significantly enhanced countless 360 games on Xbox Series X|S. The fact that we can enjoy titles like the entire Gears of War trilogy, Alan Wake, Fallout 3 & New Vegas, Far Cry 3 and many more at 60FPS is truly remarkable—and makes Xbox’s choice to initiate backward compatibility even more impressive in hindsight.
In any case, in just over a week, we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of modern Xbox backward compatibility being a core console feature for Microsoft, and we are still incredibly thankful for it in 2024. Nowadays, it’s widely accepted that current console hardware is compatible with older games—but this was a far riskier notion back in 2015, and our Xbox experience has been vastly enriched over the years.