Microsoft has announced a new programme for Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC, starting to bring a small selection of Xbox classics to be playable on PC and PC handhelds including the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X.
The initial wave of games includes:
- BLiNX: The Time Sweeper
- Conker: Live and Reloaded
- Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
- Fuzion Frenzy
It’s an interesting announcement, considering the possible future that is Project Helix, with the rumours that this will be more like a PC and what that will mean for building compatibility to older systems and games. Starting with original Xbox games makes this relatively easy, but we don’t know if this is restricted to that system, or will soon expand to include select Xbox 360 games.
All four are available through Xbox Game Pass on PC and now to purchase on PC, but if you own a digital license for the games on console that will carry over to Windows PC as well. The only exception here is if you’ve got the original Xbox discs and have an optical drive in your PC… that won’t work. There’s also Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox Cloud Gaming support to make these as universal as possible.
Some graphics customisation will be possible with up to 4x resolution upscaling, VSync, full and windowed modes, anisotropic filtering, anti-aliasing and more.
Xbox is also Achievements to select games that predate this system, and this foursome will be included when that is added later this year.
Given how old these games are, there are some fairly modest minimum requirements for this to work, though a key aspect is needing Windows 11.
Minimum system requirements:
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 950 or AMD Radeon RX 550 or Intel UHD 770 or Intel Arc A310
- CPU: Min 4 Cores Intel Core i3-8100 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200 or AMD Ryzen™ Z2 A Processor
- RAM: 8GB
- OS: Windows 11
- Drivers and Versions: Latest Version as of January 2026
Recommended specifications:
- GPU: Radeon RX 68005 or Nvidia GTX 1070 Ti or Intel Arc A770
- CPU: 6 cores and 12 threads Intel Core i5-10400 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme
- DirectX Version: DirectX12 API, Hardware Feature Level 11
- GPU VRAM: 8GB
- OS: Windows 11
- Drivers and Versions: Latest Version as of January 2026
Source: Xbox
