Expectations for backwards compatibility on next-gen consoles have skyrocketed in recent months, as rumors have suggested the PlayStation 5 is capable of playing every PS1, PS2, PS3, and PS4 game ever made. Of course, Sony has yet to confirm this, and there hasn’t been much compelling evidence, but one way or another, being able to play old games natively on the upcoming consoles has become a major topic of conversation.
In the coming weeks and months, as Sony and Microsoft begin to pull back the curtains on the PS5 and Xbox Series X, we’ll see whether or not the feature is as robust as the rumors claim, but in the meantime, Xbox chief Phil Spencer offered up an interesting update regarding the feature in a recent interview.
Speaking with Gamertag Radio for the podcast’s 1,000th episode, Spencer said the following about the progress the team is making on bringing all Xbox One titles and compatible Xbox 360 titles to the new Xbox:
“I’m trying it,” Spencer explained, referring to the Series X he has at home. “It’s in active development, sometimes it reboots. Not all the games today are completely compatible. We’re working through our list of approved games on it. You can see what I’m playing; there’s tons of games that work.”
Back in December, Spencer revealed in a tweet that he brought his Xbox Series X (known as Project Scarlett at the time) home with him to be his primary console. Scrolling back through his activity on his Xbox Live profile, he’s been playing plenty of games both new and old on his Series X, such as Goat Simulator, Astroneer, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Destiny 2. These are just some of the games that are already backwards compatible.
He also talked about how the upgraded hardware was resulting in performance enhancements, joking that if he loads “a little faster into my Destiny strike than you, that’s maybe my box.”
We’re still several months out from the release of the Xbox Series X, but it sounds like the process of making classic games work on the new console is going smoothly for Microsoft. Having the entire back catalog of Xbox One games to play on day one will make the transition to the next generation much easier.
