Microsoft Studios, the makers of Xbox One, are upping the ante against competitor Sony's PS4 by releasing the date for the launch of Xbox One Backward Compatibility, ahead of the upcoming holidays, when console sales are expected to get a boost.
Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb, director of Xbox Programming at Microsoft, revealed via a video the feature that has been widely talked about – bringing Xbox 360 video games to Xbox One, allowing them to play it on Xbox One via Backward Compatibility. He also announced that Xbox One Backward Compatibility will release on 12 November, 2015.
He revealed that Backward Compatibility is for free. Xbox 360 games that were received digitally will be pushed automatically to the Xbox One owner's collection list. Microsoft will identify the user via his Gamertag and put those games (Backward Compatibility) in the collection. So when a user hits "play", it will load up the Xbox 360 version on Xbox One. If users have saved their game on the cloud in Xbox 360, then it will be pulled up to the Xbox One.
He added that Backward Compatibility will also work with physical copies of the games that users might have purchased. All they have to do is slide the DVD into Xbox One console and it will automatically download the Backward Compatibility version from Xbox Live.
He clarified that users will not only be getting their saved games but also the DLCs, Achievements and add-ons that will be pulled up to the Xbox One Backward Compatibility.
If users wanted to check about other Xbox 360 games that are playable on Xbox One Backward Compatible, they can search via www.xbox.com/backcompat. This will consider the list of games that will be Backward Compatible in Xbox One.
He also said users not able to find a particular Xbox 360 game on the Backward Compatibility list can go to www.feedback.xbox.com where they can either vote or submit a game that needs to be included in the programme.
Xbox One Backward Compatibility also features the Xbox 360 guide that is well known to Xbox 360 users; now it will run on Xbox One. This will also support video recording, screenshot sharing and multiplayer features.
List of Xbox 360 games that are backward compatible (Xbox):
- A Kingdom for Keflings
- A World of Keflings
- Alien Hominid HD
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Banjo-Tooie
- BattleBlock Theater
- Borderlands
- Defense Grid
- Geometry Wars Evolved
- Gears of War
- Hexic HD
- Jetpac Refuelled
- Kameo
- Mass Effect
- N+
- Perfect Dark
- Perfect Dark Zero
- Super Meat Boy
- Shadow Complex
- Toy Soldiers
- Toy Soldiers: Cold War
- Viva Pinata: TIP
- Viva Pinata
- Zuma
- Worms 2: Armageddon
Microsoft has promised it will be adding more titles, with the possibility of adding about 100 Xbox 360 games compatible for the Xbox One.
The first 100 games will be added to the list on 9 November. This has been confirmed by Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft's Xbox division, and Mike Ybarra, Xbox engineering executive, via Twitter posts.
The New Xbox One Experience will release on 12 November; it boasts of faster navigation, more social experience, redesigned Game Hub, improvements to Achievements and the new Community section. It has been billed as the biggest Xbox One update yet.
This update will bring Game Hub in just a button press away. This will feature Activity Feed, watch community's most popular Game DVR clips and screenshots and improved social connectivity. Achievements will now be viewable from each Game Hub, which will include various stats.
Xbox Live Gold free games for November 2015
Meanwhile, Microsoft has also announced some of the games that are accessible for Xbox Live Gold subscribers free of cost.
- The Walking Dead: Complete First Season (free until 15 November)
- Pneuma: Breath of Life (free until 30 November)
- Knight Squad (free until 12 December)
- Dirt 3 (free until 15 November.)
- Dungeon Siege 3 (free until 30 November)
