Even though so many of its once-exclusive titles have since either been released or will release on PlayStation, one of the biggest reasons to own Xbox hardware to this day is its Backwards Compatibility program, one that has made hundreds of titles from the original Xbox and Xbox 360 generations available on modern hardware, often with visual enhancements and Achievement support.
Unfortunately, the program came to an official end in 2021, with a final batch of 70-plus titles spanning both the OG Xbox and Xbox 360, including the entire Max Payne and F.E.A.R. trilogies. At the time, Microsoft noted that it had essentially reached the limit of what is possible, though its larger work on preservation still remains unchanged.
“While we continue to stay focused on preserving and enhancing the art form of games, we have reached the limit of our ability to bring new games to the catalog from the past due to licensing, legal and technical constraints,” the company wrote. “Thank you for being part of this journey with us.”
Flash forward to today, and via a new fan survey, Xbox gamers are once again making their voices heard about what they’d like to see made playable once more, provided the program does return.
Xbox Fans Maintain Hope That The Program Could One Day Return
The project, as first discovered by Windows Central, can be found at XboxGamePreservation.com, where players can vote for the titles they want to see made Backwards Compatible on the Xbox Series X/S and the recently-revealed Project Helix.
According to the site’s owner, Ryan Chodora, via a LinkedIn post, over 3,000 unique visitors have come to the site, of which 335 voters and 2,483 votes have been cast. Surprisingly, the vote totals are nearly evenly split between the original Xbox and the Xbox 360 at 51 and 49 percent, respectively.
The Top 10 titles of the current leaderboard represent 17 percent of total votes, meaning the remaining 83 percent are spread across the Xbox library. Speaking of the Xbox library, per Chodora, 92 percent of original Xbox titles and 73 percent of Xbox 360 titles are not in the program.
So what are the titles people want to see the most? Here’s the Top 10 list in all its glory:
- The Simpsons: Hit & Run (Original Xbox)
- Silent Hill 4: The Room (Original Xbox)
- Burnout 3: Takedown (Original Xbox)
- Silent Hill 2 (Original Xbox)
- Jet Set Radio Future (Original Xbox)
- Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (Xbox 360)
- Sonic Heroes (Original Xbox)
- Spider-Man 2 (Original Xbox)
- Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Xbox 360)
- Blur (Xbox 360)
To this day, The Simpsons Hit & Run stands as a fan-favorite title that people want to see brought forward, while Spider-Man 2 is arguably the greatest movie licensed game of all-time.
The titles that received at least one vote and are at the bottom of the list? F1 2002, Scene It? Movie Night, Risen 3: Titan Lords and Rise of the Guardians, a licensed movie game from the 360 era.
Personally, the more game preservation, the better, so bring on every cult classic, Metacritic darling and failed venture.
- Released
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September 16, 2003
- ESRB
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e
- Developer(s)
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Radical Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
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Radical Entertainment
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5
- Multiplayer
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Local Multiplayer
- Franchise
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Simpsons
Dragon Age 2 Bucked The Trend Of World-Ending Stakes And Gave Us The Series’ Best Companions
Lightning in a bottle.
