Here are the first 21 Xbox 360 games that support backwards compatibility with the Xbox One

During Microsoft E3 2015 press event, the company revealed plans to offer support for playing a number of Xbox 360 games on the Xbox One. That support begins today for members of the Xbox One preview program with a list of 21 Xbox 360 games that those users will be able to play on their console.

Here are the games that will be available to play on the Xbox One when the preview update goes live later today:

  • A Kingdom for Keflings
  • A World of Keflings
  • Alien Hominid
  • Banjo Kazooie: Nuts n Bolts
  • Banjo-Kazooie
  • Banjo-Tooie
  • BattleBlock Theater
  • Defense Grid
  • Geometry Wars Evolved
  • Hexic HD
  • Jetpac Refuelled
  • Kameo
  • Mass Effect
  • Perfect Dark
  • Perfect Dark Zero
  • Small Arms
  • Super Meat Boy
  • Toy Soldiers
  • Toy Soldiers: Cold War
  • Viva Piñata
  • Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise

Microsoft will add Xbox 360 backwards compatibility for all Xbox One owners later this fall, and by that time the list should have expanded to include over 100 supported games.

Source: Xbox (opens in new tab)

John Callaham
159 Comments
  • No Reach... :'(
  • Pretty sure reach is coming later or it will be part of the MC Collection. Heck they could bring in a full HD re mastered stand alone game.
  • Actually I would like to see them bring back the game as a stand alone and add a few more levels w Jun when he was ordered to escort Dr. Halsey to safety. Or have a different Spartan team fighting the covenant in different part of planet. Wishful thinking
  • Would rather mc collection get it, def.
  • I'd rather not deal with the clumsy UI of the MCC.
  • This is the one thing holding me back from buying an Xbox One. Hopefully by the holiday season they will have a large list so I can buy a Christmas bundle for cheap :)
  • I think they said over 100 games by the time this is widely available.
  • Yep. You know how many games there are out there though? The only way to make this compelling is if almost all of them can run on the One. I know this may be tough to near-impossible, but why would anyone wanna waste money on a system that doesn't support any of the games they currently have on the old system? Those days are long gone.   Although I wonder how games like BF4 would run on the One if you insert the 360 disc . . .
  • "Those days are long gone" How many consoles have actually had backwards compatibility? I feel like 4 or 5, and we're on the 8th generation with close to if not more than 100 consoles that have existed. I'm not sure why backwards compatibility has become thought of as an industry standard.
  • It should.
  • Why is that though? When you buy an Xbox one, does your 360 stop working? I've owned more consoles than I care to admit, I never worried about BC. I bought a new one and played.
  • I can think of 8, plus a variety of in-generation or console/handheld compatibility options. Indeed, backward compatibility shouldn't be thought of as standard. It is a wealth of time and effort invested by the manufacturer to make these things work either through additional hardware, driving up the cost of the console or requiring and additional purchase of an adapter or through software development, which brings along with it all the variety of problems that you see with the production of any game, but multiplied by the number of titles involved. This cost is one of the key reasons that the Xbox 360 backward compatibility for Xbox titles hardly received updates - it wasn't worth the effort. While I like the Xbox One backward compatibility announcement and look forward to using it, I expect it to go the same way as the the Xbox 360 program and be abandoned as people move in greater numbers to the current generation.
  • Yep Ive noticed Nintendo for example dropped alot of features old consoles has eg. Rumble, infrared, multiplayer, etc, etc
  • Yeah. It's not. Wishful thinking and false memories are the norm. I blame politicians for this.
  • It can't be that, they said all the developer needs to do is approve the title and it goes right through.
  • Wii supported GameCube, Wii U supported Wii. Gameboy Color supported Gameboy, Gameboy Advanced supported Gameboy and Gameboy Color, Nintendo DS supported Gameboy Advanced, Nintendo DSi supported Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS supported DSi and DS. PlayStation 2 supported Playstation 1, early versions of Playstation 3 supported Playstation 2. Ofc. PC supports PC. Xbox One isn't the first, nor the last.
  • I don't think its that dramatic. They said over 100 by this holiday and hundreds more in the coming months. At roughly 1,000 360 games, that could easily encompass over half of all of them.
  • Ahh man!! I thought all would be available
  • They have to get approval from developers. The devs still own the rights. Microsoft obviously wanted to keep this a secret given the few games listed are mostly titles they own. I cannot imagine there being an issue, but some of the larger devs may want a royalty for the backwards compatibility. Once this thing goes officially live around christmas, I think the list will be greatly expanded.
  • A lot of that looks like Rare Replay content I won't even need, but there's some decent stuff to play on the list. I'll have to fire up the Bone and get the new Preview DL.
  • It's all in house software it seems so far, but that stands to reason. I'm sure exclusives are next on the list....but I wouldn't expect to see games that already have an XBone counterpart such as BF4 as was mentioned earlier.
  • Mass Effect wasn't in-house, though I think it was initially an exclusive title.
  • Add me please: Assassin4life
  • Message me on Xbox live if you want in the Xbox one preview. GT: cjshonky
  • please invite me @GT: B84Tizzle007
  • Yasno
  • Update: Closed! Ok added everyone that sent me a message, do the quests, get points, try features, give feedback and invite people.
  • FengJieFei please and thank you!
  • Plz can i shubhamboyz123@gmail.com
  • I do! Email is jamaican117@outlook.com
  • Thanks in advance..plz
  • Hi VinTheButcher, my gamertag : MSCbiker
    Thanks ;)
  • Supermashbro16 please!
  • Good luck with that one..
  • gamertag: heymarvin   thank you so much
  • I would love an invite!! I'm KeithWhiteJr on Xbox live
  • Spaciertick7
  • GT: Montpbm777
  • Son of a b.... Hold on, my phone lit up with Invites.
  • Gimmie a few, going to use the bathroom, as the invite process might take a bit, it also takes up to 24hrs to get into the preview after I add you (sometimes)
  • Its now 72hrs.
  • please send me an invite @GT: B84Tizzle007
  • Added you on live I'm The Ghost Knife
  • Hello. May I please have an invite to the Preview Program? I would really appreciate it. GT: MrJakeway
  • Soopa Ed please and thank you
  • TheChickenDevil
    Please add me?
  • Hi VinTheButcher, I would really like to join the preview program, my gamertag is: willowdelacruz Thank you :)  
  • Add me please: Assassin4Life
  • Hi vin. My username is cleatus. Thanks for your kindness.
  • Add me please: timenathan3238
  • I have yet to upgrade to the Xbox One from the 360,however after reading how you're helping fellow gamers I just wanted to say that you rock dude!
  • Awww, damn it all! I thought they would add ALL the Xbox 360 games! I hope Forza Horizon and Burnout Paradise are going to be on that list!
  • They have to test before they give them the green light!
  • Figured maybe Arkham Asylum or Arkham City would be in there, considering the Arkham Knight release next week.
  • Definately this
  • Battleblock!
  • And I have 19 of them. Looking forward to see how many more of my 353 retail collection and 258 XBL games get added to that list.
  • Dear lord, how much money have you sunk into video games?
  • If you have to ask ;)
  • Lol that's not even alot. There are people with steam libraries that have over 2000 games.
  • Quite a bit. Having a 38 unit console & handheld collection spanning the Atari 2600 through the Xbox One as well as a variety of PC games and 5 coin-op arcade cabinets - I have spent an amount I could not realistically caclulate at this point. I have thousands of games spanning all those systems. Fortunately, my wife enjoys the games the same way I do, and with a 9 month old, we have a nerd-in-training that will inherit the collection.
  • Your son is literally living my dream when I was a child lol
  • Same here - I shared that same dream. I think is one of the things that persuaded me to build such a colleciton. What is also cool is that one of the Atari 2600 models I have was purchased new by my Dad. Spanning the generations.
  • Had to upvote you just because your colection is awesome. ^_^
  • Thanks! :)
  • Not insult was intended, I'm just impressed.  My meager 10 games cost me a fortune on my income, haha.
  • No insult taken. I've sunk a lot in to my games. The Xbox, 360 and One I all got on release day, I was a Xbox Live beta tester - my GT has been around since Oct 2002 (XBL Launched Nov 15, 2002). Fortunately, the vast majority of Xbox 360 games I have amassed have either been 2nd hand or greatly reduced price at retail - it was a rarity that I bought a game at launch prices. I value video games not only as a means of entertainment, but also as an art form - where a player helps the telling and development of a story. I am enthralled with the development of the medium over time - advancements with graphics, interactivity and the way the medium is utilized to convey the story. I love the way the simplest of games can capture an audience and the intricate workings of the most complex game can invigorate someone to attempt to learn every nuance of it. I have seen people cry when a story touches them, jump when the environment scares them and rage when faulty mechanics fails them. There is so much more to games than most usually realize; I embrace every aspect, which is why they are such a dominate element in my life.
  • I never want to know that number. I've been gaming since atari, I've owned every Nintendo (except gamecube) every Xbox, many PC games and PC's, I shudder to think how much I've ivested in gaming. But damnit if I didn't have a good time doing it.
  • Agreed - if I knew that number, it would cause me to attempt to quantify the enjoyment I've had by what I've spent. Or wallow in the shame of having spent so much money on the unnecessary, regardless of how much enjoyment and creativity it all has inspired in me.
  • Wow!  I have 7 of them and thought it was a lot.
  • is it just me or does someone else also thinks it should be forward compatibility? :P
  • When will the xbox live arcade games work?
  • That's more important to me. I wonder if we are waiting for WX, I wonder if I can then play it on PC...
  • When they add them?? Geometry Wars is at least one from that list I know was an XBL Arcade game. Actually, looking again, quite a few of those are arcade games.
  • The majority on the list are xbla
  • I need MWF2 & BO2
  • Mass effect! Sweet! Still how they do a remaster edition and release all three in 1080p.
  • Omg put left 4 dead
  • YESSSSS! BRING ON L4D2!
  • Been waiting for new on for so long. Ffs
  • Crap, no GTA or Splinter Cell
  • This is all great and all, it will please many but this should have been done from launch.
    Secondly, this is yet another time waster.... Give us new games, not remakes, rehashes, HD upgrades or ports.... New games, new IP's and new ideas. Expand the catalogue with new software.
  • Did you miss the event? You ARE getting new games AND new features. Microsoft is kind of a big company, they can work on more than one thing at a time.
  • They just showcased a bunch of new games today and there is nothing wrong with giving people the ability to play the old games they paid good money for.  For all you know, having this in from launch would have delayed the release date of the One.
  • Say what you want, my point is still valid. Those working on making the old games work could be working on new games.
  • Not really.  Developing a game and developing an emulator to run games are two separate things.  The guy programming a character to do things is not the same as the guy programming a system to run every game from a different console and architechture.  The two are not interchangeable and it's highly unlikely they pulled from one to make the other happen.
  • Just ignore Mr Grumpypants above.
  • The only game I need is Shemmue. Thats it, I still have the disc but I would totally pay to play it again
  • I don't have any of those games. Ugh.
  • just give me Kinect Party, Nike+ Kinect Training and I'm in ;-)
  • Unfortunately, they said Kinect Xbox 360 games won't work on Xbox One. I guess the Kinect 2 is too different. I really wanted that too. They should really port some of the better Xbox 360 Kinect games to Xbox One. I really want Child of Eden, for instance.
  • Gears of War: judgement   No: \
  • I thought all Xbox games will be supported :(
  • Yes you did.   But they very clearly said about 100 at launch (towards the end of the year), followed by hundreds more over the following months.
  • Waiting for modern warfare 2 ^_^
  • I really want to see Mechassault 2 hit that list. I'd also like to see Mechassault 3 on Xbone.
  • Hopefully the baseball games too! Since Xbox doesn't seem to care much about them
  • No excuse for not having a legit MLB game, I'm very tired of it
  • :-)
  • Sweeet
  • I want all the Batman Arkham games
  • They were talking about doing a release for them, but that would be pointless as Arkham knight is out in a week and it's the final installment to the series.
  • Rocksteady making remastered Arkham games was just a rumor that turned out to be false, plus that would have only been for Asylum and City. I'm not saying I want them backwards compatible right now, but sometime soon.
  • NCAA Football 14 PLEASE!
  • Borderlands 2 or it didn't happen. ;)
  • Should have been some type of option for this on day one
  • Wow. All shit games. How about Skyrim!
  • +1 for this and Oblivion.
  • Alas, no Reach! Mass Effect then.
  • I wonder if this is just software emulation or something else.
  • Well the One uses 3 OSes.  A hypervisor, one for the UI and app stuff, and one to actually play the games.  My understanding that this will just add another one (the 360 OS) running in a VM.  Thats how I understand it anyway, I could be wrong. They're calling it emulation, but its not really, its just the closest thing that most people might understand.
  • I hope Ninja Gaiden will be compatible on XBO,love that game.
  • When they say Mass Effect, would that be the entire series?
  • I know right.
  • Viva Pinata! Yay!
  • Nice! Too bad I'm not in the preview program. I'd love to play some battleblock on my xbox1.
  • Ad me as a friend and send me a message. I'll add you. GT: cjshonky
  • I hope GTA IV support is coming too
  • I guess none of the fitness games with Kinect will be on their priority list. I will wait
  • What about Kinect games
  • I would LOVE Disneyland Kinect on my Xbox One... but I bet with the architectural differences between the old and new, it probably can't happenen.
  • Glad im not missing out on anything really important yet.
  • Microsoft is really moving forward with the company. Great work!
  • Could I get a invite to preview program xbl GHOSTRUNNER1990 thx in advance
  • I just added you
  • Wow. So literally every shit game then? Nothing decent and no major titles? Knew it would be pointless.
  • Mass Effect doesn't count as a major title? They just announced the damn feature today. Can you give them a month or even a week to test and work on the project? Geez...
  • Yay!
  • Pre Xbox One versions of COD!!!!!!!!!!
  • Yay! Kameo is one of the first! Loved that game... Haven't played it for years, and would love to play it again :)
  • Bayonetta
  • Want the previous CoDs T be on that lists!
  • It's "backward compatibility", not "backwards compatibility".
  • No, really. The Xbox One has all of the backwards so plural is okay.
  • You are a fool if you get rid of your 360 thinking they will support the games, I remember the samething was said about the original xbox. Less than 5% of the games got support for the 360, this is Microsoft so history says they will repeat the same thing.
  • Original Xbox games on the 360 required game devs to rewrite a lot of stuff along with shims from MS.  This new system for the One seems to be basically 'just' the 360 OS running in a VM and the ONLY thing required of the game publishers is their permission. There were around 470 Original Xbox games made playable on the 360.  Thats out of the entire library which is just over 1000 games (at least the esrb has rated 1007 of them).  So, just a bit under 50%, so your source was out by just under a factor of 10. According to wikipedia (april 2015) there are currently 1139 titles for the 360, and ALL of them are technically playable on the One, its just up to the greedy publishers, so breath-holding might not be a good idea.
  • Hey if anyone's wants to get an invite to the preview program. Just send me an invite at AlienSix. I'll be waiting for my phone to blow up haha. 
  • Those games? Come on! Where's RE4-5!
  • Mass effect yes!!!!
  • Kind of a interesting list of games. Not what I would have expected.
  • Or wanted with perhaps 2 or 3 exceptions.  It was probably carefully chosen to lower expectations.
  • You realize that this list is just an early proof of concept so that preview program members can try it out, right?
  • That seems like a really weak list.
  • I just need for them to get Street Fighter Ultra on the list
  • A bit underwhelming list but at least MS has cracked the backwards compatibility nut. I honestly gave up hope on that long ago.
  • We can only hope that most of the games we purchased will be supported as much as they can, I remember that the backward compatibility for Xbox 360 to run original Xbox games doesn't cover all the games.
     
  • So, just to be clear, for someone who never owned an Xbox 360. I can now buy eligible Xbox 360 games and play them on my Xbox One? I can't buy them on Xbox One, though, right? So, I have to go to the web version of the Xbox 360 store (http://marketplace.xbox.com), sign in, and if I buy them there (and they're an eligible game), then they'll start downloading to my Xbox One? There are so many XBLA games that I'd love to finally get a chance to play.
  • From the little info we have, that sounds about right. Or you can just go to ebay or whatever 2nd hand games shop is close to you and buy a heap for a couple of bucks each.  You can bet that other people will be doing this soon. But you'd be dumb to not get an xbox live gold sub.  Its like $5/month and you get 2 or 4 360 games free each month plus 1 or 2 xbox one games too.  Well worth the sub cost, especially now they'll all be playable on the One.
  • New Vegas??
  • to bad I dont have one of those games.
  • checked a few Hexic Hd is free in the store I will test a free game then. https://www.windowscentral.com/e?link=https2F%2Fclick.linksynergy.co...
  • I really wish the Witcher 2 would be supported soon. Never had the luck to be able to play that one so it leaves a hole after the first game.
  • Other than Mass Effect its like they chose the lamest games out of the huge library of 360 titles they could find. How about Elder Scrolls Oblivion and Skyrim or some of the old Need for Speeds and Star Wars games.  Very underwhelming, I just hope the game publishers all sign on the dotted line to let MS 'port' the things across (or whatever magic they do).  But you can bet many won't because they will somehow believe that letting people play old games will ruin their current crop sales potential.  That, or any with multiplayer they will require a 'reactivation fee' or some other such money grubbing shenanigans.
  • Bk:n&b isnt appearing on my install list
  • Hi, Im looking to joinn the XB1 preview prgram thre are a number of preview only features that i really want to make use of, any help would be apreciated. my gt is "Clarity Page". Happy Gaming
  • can anyone give me xbox preview program. my game tag is ForcedSun and my email forcedsun@outlook.com
  •   Hello mates! I would really appreciate an invite to the preview program, my gamertag is: Ibunshi
  • They should bring back NCAA and mlb
  • If you are reading this, please bring back NCAA Football 14. I will play that game for so many years to come.