According to a leaked internal Microsoft document obtained by The Verge, the company intends to significantly expand the Xbox backward compatibility program on PC. While it currently covers only a few projects from the original Xbox, games from the Xbox 360 era will join them in the future.
However, as the leaked document suggests, this is just the beginning. In the future, developers will be able to independently connect their Xbox 360 games to the backward compatibility program. Publishers will decide whether to release a particular project on PC, set its price, and determine if it will be included in the Xbox Game Pass catalog.
The document also reveals a list of devices on which these games will run. In addition to Windows PCs with the Xbox app, portable devices, including the ROG Xbox Ally X, as well as the next-generation console codenamed Project Helix, which, according to sources, will be built on an architecture similar to a gaming PC, will receive support.
According to available information, the full implementation of backward compatibility for Xbox 360 games is planned for the period from 2027 to 2028. This means that the official ability to run Xbox 360 projects on PC will not appear anytime soon.
At the same time, the launch of the full version of the program for original Xbox games is expected as early as October. It is likely that the library will then be replenished with new classic projects in addition to the already available four.