GoKawiilis a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
The next Xbox, Project Helix, could theoretically have the largest library of any home console. Not only will it play PC games, but we now know, courtesy of a leaked memo obtained by The Verge’s Tom Warren, that it will run games from every generation of Xbox: the original 2001 Xbox, the 2005 Xbox 360, the 2013 Xbox One, and the 2020 Xbox Series, as well as any new Helix titles.
We already knew that Microsoft was bringing a limited sample of original Xbox games to PC, and we already knew it was prepping a way to digitize your Xbox One and Xbox Series discs. The leak fills in the missing puzzle pieces.
Microsoft is bringing Xbox 360 games to PC, too, and explicitly states that those games will run on Helix in addition to “Xbox PCs.” The document also clearly states that your digitized Xbox One and Xbox Series discs can follow you to “any Xbox device,” so Helix will get those too. Five generations of Xbox games under one roof.
“You keep rights, pricing, and brand control.” Image: Microsoft
But before you get too excited about “backwards compatibility,” you should know this isn’t the same as sticking a PS4 disc in your PS5 (or a Switch cartridge in your Switch 2) and pressing play.
First, Helix may not have a disc drive at all. Last we heard, Microsoft is still deciding that.
Second, it appears that these forms of backwards compatibility are at the mercy of game publishers. The leaked memo is Microsoft trying to convince those publishers by dangling profit in front of their eyes.
The memo is literally addressed to publishers, and it’s transparently a sales pitch. One section is titled “Why publishers win.” Spoiler: Publishers primarily win because they can sell old games like they’re new again.
... continue reading