Xbox Has Opened the Door to Backward Compatibility on PC, But These Classics Should Be Next

Microsoft just made one of its bigger preservation moves in years. Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC is real now, and it brings select original Xbox titles to Windows PCs and supported handhelds through a compatibility layer built for modern hardware. Higher resolutions, better visuals, Xbox Play Anywhere support, the works.

The first wave is small. Four games, to be exact.

It's a decent start. I've seen fans ask Microsoft for exactly this kind of preservation effort for years, and Xbox has confirmed more titles are coming to the program over time. That's the part I care about more than the launch lineup itself.

Because honestly, four games barely scratches the surface. Xbox's library spans more than two decades at this point, and a lot of it has never been officially playable on PC. Legendary shooters, racing series that built entire sub-genres, RPGs that people still bring up in forum threads a decade later. There's no shortage of candidates.

So here are ten Xbox games and franchises I think deserve to be next in line.

Top 10 Xbox Classics I'd Love to See Added Next

#10. Otogi & Otogi 2

Long before Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, FromSoftware made two action games that most people have simply never heard of. Otogi: Myth of Demons and its sequel, Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors, mixed fast sword combat with Japanese mythology and fully destructible environments, and it played like something years ahead of its time.

Both games have been stuck on the original Xbox for over two decades. Bringing them to PC through Backward Compatibility would do more than preserve a piece of FromSoftware's history, it would show a huge new audience where the studio actually came from. Given how much attention FromSoftware gets right now, I can't think of a better window to do it.

#9. Kung Fu Chaos

The original Xbox had no shortage of competitive multiplayer games, but few were as gleefully unpredictable as Kung Fu Chaos. It came out in 2003 and mixed martial arts, slapstick humor, and ridiculous movie-set chaos into a four-player brawler that never took itself seriously for a second.

Fighting on top of moving vehicles, dodging absurd hazards, every match was a mess in the best way. It never became a flagship Microsoft franchise, but it built a fanbase that still talks about it fondly, and I include myself in that group.

Party games are still a real market on PC, which makes Kung Fu Chaos a stronger pick than it might sound on paper. Pick-up-and-play games like this age well because there's nothing complicated to relearn.

#8. MechAssault

Nothing captured the early days of Xbox Live quite like MechAssault. Set in the BattleTech universe, this third-person mech shooter turned massive robot battles and destructible environments into online matches that genuinely felt new at the time.

It became one of the standout multiplayer experiences on the original console and helped prove console online gaming could actually work. People who were there for it still bring the series up as one of Microsoft's more underrated exclusives.

A PC return through Backward Compatibility would let longtime fans relive it and put the franchise in front of players who've never touched it. Mech games have had a bit of a resurgence lately too, so the timing lines up.

#7. Blue Dragon

When Microsoft was trying to win over JRPG fans on Xbox 360, Blue Dragon was one of its biggest swings. Mistwalker made it, the studio Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi founded, and the team behind it reads like a wish list: artist Akira Toriyama, composer Nobuo Uematsu.

What came out of that was a genuinely charming RPG with strategic turn-based combat and a world that stood apart from most of what else was around at the time. It built a loyal following, but it never got an official PC release, and it's been sitting on aging hardware ever since.

Xbox is talking about preservation more seriously now, so Blue Dragon deserves another shot at reaching people. Bringing it to PC would keep one of the Xbox 360's best RPGs alive and let a new group of players see what helped Microsoft's early push into the genre.

#6. Lost Odyssey

Few Xbox 360 exclusives get requested as often as Lost Odyssey. Also made by Mistwalker under Sakaguchi's direction, it tells an emotional story centered on Kaim, an immortal warrior weighed down by a thousand years of memory.

The turn-based combat is traditional, the soundtrack is unforgettable, and the "A Thousand Years of Dreams" short stories woven through the game helped it become one of the best JRPGs the Xbox 360 ever had. And yet, despite the acclaim and the fanbase that still asks for it, it's never made the jump to PC.

If Backward Compatibility is really about preserving Xbox's history, Lost Odyssey should be near the top of that list. It's a game that deserves far more players than the ones who still own working Xbox 360 hardware.

#5. Jet Set Radio Future

More than twenty years on, Jet Set Radio Future still comes up every time Xbox fans talk about games worth reviving. As the spiritual successor to Sega's original Jet Set Radio, it took everything memorable about that game and pushed it further, the skating, the cel-shaded visuals, the soundtrack that still slaps.

Unlike the first Jet Set Radio, which eventually made it to modern platforms, Jet Set Radio Future is still locked to the original Xbox. For a lot of players, it's the last great Sega classic that never escaped its original hardware.

Backward Compatibility on PC is exactly the opportunity to fix that. The art style has aged better than most games from that era, and a PC release would finally let fans, old and new, play one of the original Xbox's most celebrated exclusives without hunting down twenty-year-old hardware.

#4. Project Gotham Racing 4

Of everything in Xbox's racing history, Project Gotham Racing 4 is one of the franchise's best entries. It came out on Xbox 360, refined Bizarre Creations' Kudos system, added motorcycles alongside the licensed cars, and included dynamic weather that felt impressive at the time. A lot of fans still call it the definitive PGR experience.

Here's what's interesting: Project Gotham Racing 4 already runs well through Xbox 360 emulation on PC right now. Crisp visuals, better frame rates, higher resolutions than the original hardware ever supported. That alone tells you there's still real demand for this game more than a decade later.

Rather than leaving one of Xbox's best racing games to a community-driven preservation effort, Microsoft could bring Project Gotham Racing 4 into its official program. It would preserve a genuinely iconic racer and introduce a new generation to a franchise that helped define the Xbox 360 era.

#3. Fable II

Fable has gotten a lot of renewed attention lately, but one major chapter keeps getting left out. Fable Anniversary and Fable III both eventually made it to PC, but Fable II is still stuck on Xbox 360, which leaves a frustrating gap for anyone who wants to play the series start to finish.

Most people consider it Lionhead Studios' best work. It refined the original's formula with a richer world, memorable companions, choices that actually mattered, and that dry British humor the series is known for. A lot of longtime fans still call it the high point of the franchise.

Bringing Fable II to PC through Backward Compatibility would finally complete the series for PC players and preserve one of Xbox's most loved RPGs. With a new Fable on the way, I can't think of a better time to make the original available to more people.

#2. Forza Horizon & Forza Horizon 2

Forza Horizon is one of Xbox's biggest success stories today, but PC players have never actually gotten to see where it started. Both the original Forza Horizon and Forza Horizon 2 remain absent from the platform, even after the series expanded to Windows.

The first game introduced the Horizon Festival against the backdrop of Colorado, and the sequel moved things to a beautiful stretch of Southern Europe with even more focus on freedom and exploration. Together, these two games set up one of the industry's most successful open-world racing franchises.

Licensing has probably complicated re-releases here, that's usually the sticking point with racing games full of real car brands. But Backward Compatibility on PC could be the workaround Microsoft needs to preserve these two. If the company wants to properly celebrate the Horizon series' history, its first two entries belong on that priority list.

#1. The Original Gears of War Trilogy

If one franchise sums up why Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC matters, it's the original Gears of War trilogy.

The first Gears of War did eventually get a PC release, and later came back as Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, but the story is still incomplete on PC. Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3 have never had official PC versions, which leaves one of Xbox's most important trilogies stranded on console.

Together, these three games helped shape the entire Xbox 360 generation. Cinematic set pieces, cover-based combat that a lot of shooters copied afterward, co-op that raised the bar for what console shooters could do. Marcus Fenix, Dominic Santiago, Augustus Cole, Damon Baird, these characters are basically synonymous with the Xbox brand at this point, and new PC players still can't experience their story the way it was meant to be played.

Microsoft keeps talking about its commitment to preservation, and I struggle to think of a series more deserving of that effort than this one. Bringing the original Gears trilogy to PC would protect one of gaming's most influential franchises and finally let a new generation play the games that shaped modern third-person shooters.

Why These Games Deserve a Second Chance on PC

Here's the thing that makes the case for expanding this program even stronger: a lot of these games already run on modern hardware, just not officially. Years of work from the emulation community means several Xbox and Xbox 360 classics are already playable on PC, often at resolutions their original consoles could never touch. Some run cleanly at 1080p. Others hold up in native 4K with sharper visuals and better performance than anyone got in 2007.

That doesn't undercut Microsoft's opportunity here. If anything, it proves the demand already exists.

These fan projects have shown there's still an audience hungry for Xbox's back catalog. Microsoft doesn't need expensive remakes or full remasters to capture it. A lot of these games could get the same treatment as the new Backward Compatibility titles: straightforward ports, some modern polish, Xbox Play Anywhere support, and a proper place in the current Xbox ecosystem.

It's sitting right there in the vault, waiting.

Adding fan-favorite classics like these would instantly strengthen the Game Pass library. At a time when many subscribers have questioned the service's value following repeated price increases, legacy Xbox titles represent a largely untapped opportunity. These aren't games that require years of development or massive remake budgets. They're already part of Xbox's own history, and making them available on PC and Game Pass would add meaningful value for both longtime fans and newcomers alike.

Preserving Xbox's history doesn't always mean rebuilding it from scratch. Sometimes it just means making the games people already love easier to actually play.

Conclusion

Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC is one of the more exciting preservation moves Microsoft has made in a while. The first four games are a fine start, and they show the company is serious about extending its history beyond console hardware and onto Windows.

But this is only the opening chapter. Xbox's catalog spans more than two decades and holds plenty of games worth saving, whether that's finally finishing the Gears of War trilogy on PC, going back to where the Forza Horizon festival began, or giving cult favorites like Kung Fu Chaos and Jet Set Radio Future a second life.

If Xbox keeps expanding this program over the next few years, it could end up being one of the company's biggest contributions to game preservation, period. For longtime fans, it's a chance to revisit games they haven't touched in years. For newer players, it's a shot at experiencing some of the best games Xbox ever put out, a lot of them for the first time.

Xbox has already shown that Backward Compatibility on PC works. Now comes the harder part, deciding which classics deserve to return next. Looking at the quality of games still trapped on the original Xbox and Xbox 360, Microsoft isn't short on options. In fact, it may be sitting on one of the richest untapped PC libraries in the entire industry.

Which Xbox classic do you want to see added to Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC next? Let me know in the comments below.