Microsoft is bringing original Xbox games to PC for the first time. The company announced Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC today, launching in early release with four classic titles that players can now access through the Xbox app on Windows.
The four-game launch and early-release details come from Microsoft’s Xbox Wire announcement.
The first four games available are BLiNX: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, and Fuzion Frenzy. Each title is available for purchase individually and included with all Xbox Game Pass plans. Players who already own a digital license for these games on console can carry that license over to PC or handheld devices through Xbox Play Anywhere.
Microsoft confirmed the announcement in a post on Xbox Wire, describing the launch as "the beginning of a broader effort to preserve Xbox games from the past and bring them to PC over time." The initiative extends to handheld devices, including the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X.
The PC versions come with enhanced features that go beyond the original console releases. Players can customize graphics settings with up to 4x resolution upscaling, VSync support, fullscreen and windowed display modes, anisotropic filtering, and enhanced anti-aliasing. The games also include customizable language and audio settings.
Minimum system requirements include an Nvidia GTX 950, AMD Radeon RX 550, or Intel UHD 770 GPU, an Intel Core i3-8100 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 processor, 8GB of RAM, and Windows 11.
Microsoft also confirmed that Achievements will come to the backward compatibility catalog later this year. The first four games launching today will be updated to include Achievements in the coming months.
The backward compatibility program on PC arrives alongside Xbox's broader push into PC gaming and handhelds. The ROG Xbox Ally handheld, announced earlier this year, runs a custom Windows-based OS designed for gaming, and the backward compatibility initiative suggests Microsoft intends to build a deeper library for that hardware.
Conker: Live and Reloaded, a 2005 remaster of Rare's mature platformer, and Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, the 2002 alternate-history flight combat game, are among the more fondly remembered original Xbox titles. Fuzion Frenzy, a party game from the console's launch window, and BLiNX: The Time Sweeper, a collectathon platformer, round out the initial lineup.
