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Microsoft confirms plans to bring Xbox 360 games to the Xbox One

Published Apr 8th, 2014 5:15PM EDT
How to Play Xbox 360 Games on Xbox One

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For some gamers, one of the main Xbox One issues is its inability of playing Xbox 360 games, and Microsoft is well aware of that. At Build 2014, the company said that it wants to bring Xbox 360 emulation to its next-gen console, but it may not be an easy process, Kotaku Australia reports.

In a developer session on the Xbox One’s use of Windows technology, a member of the audience asked whether there are any plans for emulating the Xbox 360 on the Xbox One, with Microsoft’s Frank Savage confirming that the company is interested in bringing old games to the new console.

“There are, but we’re not done thinking them through yet, unfortunately,” Savage said. “It turns out to be hard to emulate the PowerPC stuff on the X86 stuff. So there’s nothing to announce, but I would love to see it myself.” Thus, the exec was not actually able to offer any insight on when an official Xbox 360 emulator for the Xbox One will be released. Meanwhile, the Xbox One will get a significant graphics performance boost once Microsoft releases the newly announced DirectX 12.

Comparatively, Sony’s PlayStation 4 isn’t backwards compatible with PS3, and older, games. However, PS4 buyers will be able to someday stream older PlayStation titles thanks to Sony’s PlayStation Now cloud-based game streaming service that’s currently in beta.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.