Backwards Compatibility is Coming to Xbox One November 12 2015
On Thursday November 12th, 2015, an update to the Xbox One operating system will allow over 100 Xbox 360 games to be installed and played, with more titles being enabled over time. If you already own any of the games on this list digitally, they will show up as being “Ready to Install” in the games section. Or if you own the disc version, inserting the disc will begin the install process.
Today, the complete list of games that will be available on November 12th was revealed by Microsoft (source). Here is the complete list:
A Kingdom for Keflings
A World of Keflings
Alien Hominid HD
Assassin’s Creed II
Asteroids & Deluxe
Banjo Kazooie®: Nuts & Bolts
Banjo-Kazooie®
Banjo-Tooie®
BattleBlock Theater
Bejeweled 2
Bellator: MMA Onslaught
Beyond Good & Evil HD
Blood of the Werewolf
BloodRayne: Betrayal
Borderlands
Call of Juarez® Gunslinger
Castle Crashers
CastleStorm
Centipede & Millipede
Condemned: Criminal Origins
Crazy Taxi™
Deadliest Warrior: Legends
Defense Grid: The Awakening
DiRT 3
DiRT Showdown
Discs of Tron
Doom
Doom II
Dungeon Siege III
Earthworm Jim HD
Fable II
Fallout 3
Feeding Frenzy
Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown
Gears of War
Gears of War 2
Gears of War 3
Gears of War: Judgment
Golden Axe™
Halo: Spartan Assault
Hardwood Backgammon®
Hardwood Hearts®
Hardwood Spades®
Heavy Weapon
Hexic HD
Ikaruga
Jetpac Refuelled
Joy Ride Turbo
Just Cause 2
Kameo™: Elements of Power
LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Lode Runner™
LUMINES LIVE!
Mass Effect™
Metal Slug 3
Metal Slug XX
Might & Magic Clash of Heroes™
Mirror’s Edge™
Missile Command
Monday Night Combat
Monkey Island: Special Edition
Monkey Island 2: Special Edition
Ms. Splosion Man™
Mutant Blobs Attack!!!
N+
NBA JAM: On Fire Edition
NiGHTS into dreams…
Operation Flashpoint™: Dragon Rising
Pac-Man: Championship Edition™
Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX+
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark Zero
Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds
Pinball FX™
Plants vs. Zombies
Prince of Persia
Putty Squad
Rayman 3 HD
R-Type Dimensions™
Sacred Citadel
Sega Vintage Collection: Alex Kidd & Co.
Sega Vintage Collection: Golden Axe
Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World
Sega Vintage Collection: Streets of Rage
Shadow Complex
Sonic CD
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Sonice the Hedgehog 3
Super Meat Boy
Supreme Commander 2
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2
South Park: The Stick of Truth™
Torchlight
Toy Soldiers
Toy Soldiers: Cold War
Tron: Evolution
Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon
Viva Piñata
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
Wolfenstein 3D
Zuma
Additionally, the following are some of the games scheduled for availability in December 2015:
BioShock
BioShock 2
BioShock Infinite
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Halo: Reach
Halo Wars
Skate 3
When PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were initially released in 2012, it was said that backwards compatibility would be difficult or even impossible to accomplish on the new consoles due to systems being made with different architectures. The first couple years of this console cycle was riddled with remasters and rereleases. This allowed developers to get some practice making games for these new consoles, and also provided a way for consumers to play these games on their new consoles.
After Phil Spencer became head of Xbox, he was determined to get backwards compatibility working on Xbox One and make it available at no additional cost. This will make it easier for Xbox fans who were on the fence for upgrading to do so since most of their old games will still work on the Xbox One, eventually.
Is your favorite 360 game not on the list? Microsoft’s goal was to make as many 360 games available as possible on the Xbox One and plan on rolling out games periodically. Xbox 360 Kinect Games and other games that require extra peripherals won’t be crossing over due to complications of the extra hardware required. Also, a publisher may not choose to allow access to their old games due to newer versions they want to focus attention on, or there may be liscensing issues preventing it.
PlayStation 4 has its PlayStation Now subscription service which gives access to several games from previous PlayStation incarnations at a cost of $20 a month. But is that extra cost worth it when you can buy all of the Xbox 360 games you want at a cheaper price and play them on the Xbox One?
