Xbox Backward Compatibility has long been the benchmark for backward compatibility on consoles, and rumors of it coming to PC rightly made more than a few players excited at the prospect of playing classic Xbox games which never received an official PC port. Today, Xbox Backward Compatibility was officially launched on PC with the first batch of games, and some exclusive features that will vastly improve the experience while preserving the original gameplay.
"Today, we’re introducing XBOX Backward Compatibility on PC, making it easier to play classic XBOX games from the past across PC and handhelds, including the ROG XBOX Ally and XBOX Ally X," the official announcement on Xbox Wire reads. "Your library is more than just a collection of games. It is your personal history of epic stories and treasured memories from the past. And as players, we don’t want to leave our gaming legacy behind even as technology continues to evolve and advance. We expect our library of games to move forward with us and to be able to play them in entirely new ways."
Today's rollout of Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC launches with its first four games:
This initial wave only marks the beginning of "a broader effort to preserve XBOX games from the past and bring them to PC over time." Each of the four games can be purchased separately on PC, and they are all included in every Xbox Game Pass plan. Owners of a digital license for these games will also see the license carried over to PC via Xbox Play Anywhere.
As already mentioned, Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC also comes with new enhancements:
- 4x resolution upscaling
- VSync support
- Fullscreen and Windowed display modes
- Anisotropic filtering and enhanced anti-aliasing
- Future Achievements support rolling out in the coming months
Lastly, Xbox also confirmed the minimum and recommended system requirements for backward compatibility which are, unsurprisingly, quite low:
Minimum System Requirements:
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 950 or AMD Radeon RX 550 or Intel UHD 770 or Intel Arc A310
- CPU: Intel Core i3-8100 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 or AMD Ryzen Z2 A Processor (Minimum 4 Cores)
- RAM: 8GB
- OS: Windows 11
- Drivers and Versions: Latest Version
Recommended Specifications:
- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800 or Nvidia GTX 1070 Ti or Intel Arc A770 (8GB VRAM)
- CPU: Intel Core i5-10400 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme (6 cores / 12 threads)
- DirectX Version: DirectX12 API, Hardware Feature Level 11
- RAM: 8GB
- OS: Windows 11
- Drivers and Versions: Latest Version
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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