Xbox One Backward Compatible List Includes Fan Requests
By Dalton Cooper 13 November 2016
Responding to a fan on Twitter, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer teases ‘top fan requests’ are coming to the Xbox One backward compatibility lineup in November.
Since Xbox One backward compatibility with Xbox 360 was announced at E3 2015, Microsoft has added a number of heavy hitters to the service. Blockbuster Xbox 360 games like Red Dead Redemption, Call of Duty: Black Ops, the Gears of War trilogy, and more have been added to the list of backward compatible games, but there’s still many popular 360 titles that fans want to play on Xbox One. As it turns out, fans may not have to wait too much longer for some of those requested games.
According to Head of Xbox Phil Spencer, he has seen the list of titles that the Xbox backward compatibility team plans to add this month, and it apparently includes “top fan requests.” We won’t know the specific games Spencer is referring to until the titles are officially announced for the service, but Spencer’s verbiage seems to suggest that some titles gamers have been clamoring for will be added soon, like the remaining seventh-gen Call of Duty games, Mass Effect 2, and Grand Theft Auto IV.
Recent developments have made some of the most-requested backward compatible games somewhat obsolete, but it’s possible that they will be part of the games added to the service in November anyway. That includes games like Skyrim, which may be a less exciting BC prospect now that Skyrim – Special Edition is available, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare now that Modern Warfare Remastered is available with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare on Xbox One.
At this point, all fans can do is guess as to what the next games added to the backward compatibility lineup will be. However, with Sony launching PS4 Pro on November 11th, it makes sense for Xbox to ramp up support for one of its most popular features. Microsoft may be able to convince some consumers to skip picking up an upgraded PS4 if they are able to play their Xbox 360 library on Xbox One, which could help the company continue its console sales winning streak that is three months strong so far.
Whatever games are added next, it’s clear that backward compatibility is a key feature for the Xbox brand. And with news that Project Scorpio will support backward compatibility, the feature isn’t going anywhere any time soon.
Once the bulk of Xbox 360 games are available on Xbox One, Microsoft could expand its backward compatibility scope to original Xbox games. Time will tell if we ever get to that point, but for those that enjoy taking advantage of Xbox One’s current backward compatibility functionality, November should be an exciting month.
Source: Phil Spencer
