With E3 2019 still abuzz about Xbox Project Scarlett, including its ability to play four generations of Xbox games, today Microsoft shared the news that it will be stopping work on expanding the Xbox One backwards compatible games list to focus on Project Scarlett. The news might initially sound disappointing, but it's all in the name of making sure that Project Scarlett will support the massive library of legacy Xbox games in the years to come.
"After adding more than 600 titles to the Backward Compatibility catalog, we’re now setting our sights on what's next for the future of compatibility," reads a post by Team Xbox's Jason Ronald. "After this week, we have no plans to add additional Original Xbox or Xbox 360 titles to the catalog on Xbox One, but we're excited to continue our work on Xbox compatibility across platforms and devices, which remains a top priority."
As one last hurrah for backwards compatibility on Xbox One, the last batch of new games has been added, with the entire Splinter Cell series now playable on Xbox One. You'll still be able to enjoy all the backwards compatible games you currently have on your Xbox One, but there won't be any more games added to the list. Here are the final eight additions, which are playable now if you have the disc and will be available for digital purchase on the Microsoft Store later this week:
Original Xbox
- Armed and Dangerous
- Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb
- Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Double Agent
- Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict
Xbox 360
- Asura’s Wrath
- Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
- Enchanted Arms
- Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
- Far Cry Classic
- Far Cry Instincts Predator
- Infinite Undiscovery
- Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
- Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands
- Skate
- Star Ocean: The Last Hope
- Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo
- Syndicate
- Too Human
- Unreal Tournament 3
In a nice added bonus, Microsoft is also giving away DLC (mostly mission and map packs) for original Xbox backwards compatible games for free, which will install as soon as you download an update. You should look out for additional content in the following games:
- Armed and Dangerous
- Star Wars Battlefront
- Star Wars Battlefront 2
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- Star Wars Republic Commando
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
And finally, the list of Xbox One X Enhanced games expands with a suite of Rare games. "Xbox 360 games enhanced for Xbox One X run at a higher resolution - 9x the original pixel count up to 4K UltraHD - with improved texture filtering and color detail," reads the post. "The power of Xbox One X enables the Xbox 360 emulator to showcase the very best version of the game possible with the existing assets and no modification to the original experience."
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts
- Banjo-Tooie
- Kameo Elements of Power
- Perfect Dark
- Perfect Dark Zero
- Viva Pinata
- Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
To commemorate the end of an era for backwards compatibility on Xbox One, Microsoft is making Too Human free as a digital copy. "Thank you for your continued feedback and support as we've journeyed together through the launch and releases of Xbox One Backward Compatibility," reads the post. "We look forward to our next chapter with Project Scarlett."
See what else is in store at the show will the full E3 2019 schedule.
