Microsoft has shown a strong commitment to Backward Compatibility for games this generation. Since it’s launch a couple of years ago, the Backward Compatibility program has bolstered the Xbox One’s library of playable games, increasing it significantly with a 100’s of titles from the Xbox 360 and Original Xbox eras being made available to play on the Xbox One family of consoles.
In a recent conversation with fans on Twitter, Phil Spencer shed some light on the future of Backward Compatibility on future Xbox consoles. Spencer said, “In a future where you have so many big games that have huge playing communities behind them a future where you fragment that community via hardware feels like a challenge.”
Spencer says, “I’ve learned a ton from the response to X from gamers and studios, trust me that this learning is impacting our future plans.”
While it’s hard to imagine a new Xbox console coming any time soon, considering that the Xbox One X just launched in the fall, Spencer’s comments make it sound like Backward Compatibility is here to stay in future generations. This certainly isn’t confirmation that they’ll never abandon support for Backward Compatibility on future consoles and that all games will always run on future hardware.
Backward Compatibility has proven to be a big feature and feature that differentiates Microsoft from their competition (Sony and Nintendo) who both have strategies that push players towards re-purchasing games from previous generations that they want to bring forward to their new consoles.
