Xbox culls 17 backwards compatible games – and it could just be start

03 February 2023 , 17:41

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Classics like Jet Set Radio are set to leave the service for good

Xbox is removing 17 backwards compatible titles from its digital storefront; is this the beginning of the end for backwards compatibility support?

A total of 46 games are leaving the Xbox 360 Marketplace next week, which may not seem like something to be getting worked up about at first glance. But while most of them will be sticking around on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X |S storefronts, there are 17 backwards compatible titles in the mix that won't be available digitally at all after Tuesday, February 7.

The Xbox 360 Marketplace update was shared on the Microsoft support page, without much fanfare. Some of the games we're saying goodbye to include Sega classics Jet Set Radio, and Daytona USA, as well as Valve greats Left 4 Dead, and The Orange Box. The library of backwards compatible games hasn't grown since the last batch was added back in November 2021.

Microsoft announced that the 76 titles would be the final additions, citing "licensing, legal and technical constraints" as the reason that no more would be making their way to the library. It follows that this is likely the cause of the upcoming removal of the 17 games, especially when you consider some of the titles listed – like Skate 2 which contains branded content and licensed music.

This wouldn't be the first time that licensing issues have resulted in games being pulled from the Xbox backwards compatibility library; in 2021 Konami removed Metal Gear Solid HD Edition: 2 & 3 from the Xbox 360 Marketplace due to licenses expiring for "select historical archive footage". So it could be that these 17 games have encountered similar hurdles and we're only likely to see more as time goes on.

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On top of all this, it seems like Microsoft's support for the Xbox 360 Marketplace may also be coming to an end in a handful of months. Gematsu spotted a missive from the company stating that the storefront will be shutting up shop "over the next year" and that gamers have until May 2023 to buy any Xbox 360 games or DLC. This was quickly walked back in a comment to the website, with a spokesperson saying it was "posted in error" and that the Xbox 360 Marketplace will not be closing in May.

I did reach out to Microsoft to ask whether there were more Xbox 360 titles heading for the chopping block in the near future, but the spokesperson didn't have anything to add outside of the original information on the support page.

Going Backwards

Luckily, it isn’t all bad news, because there are workarounds – at least until the games disappear forever on Tuesday, February 7.

First off, if you have an Xbox 360 lying around, you can still buy these games on the Xbox 360 Marketplace from your console, and they’ll automatically appear in your Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S libraries. You can also do an internet search for the title you're looking for with the words 'Xbox 360 store' – you can try to search on the browser version of the storefront, but it redirects you to the Xbox One/ Xbox Series X|S digital marketplace instead, making it impossible to purchase them this way.

Finally, if you pick up any of the 17 games on disc somewhere, Microsoft has confirmed that they will continue to work on current-gen hardware. Obviously you’re out of luck if you own the all-digital Xbox One S or Xbox Series S which don't have disc drives.

Xbox and PlayStation have taken drastically different approaches to backwards compatibility with this console generation. Xbox has been dedicated to maintaining a library of 'thousands of games' (mostly because the Xbox Series X launch lineup was so abysmal). One of Jim Ryan's most iconic moments as PlayStation Boss was when he told Time that PS1 and PS2 games 'look ancient' and pondered 'why anybody would play them'.

Since then, some classic games have been brought over to PS5 as a part of PS Plus Premium, but Ryan's opinion on backwards compatibility can still be felt by the paltry selection on offer. There's a handful of PS1, PS2 and PSP games on offer, while PS3 games are relegated to streaming only. On the flip side, 99% of PS4 games are backwards compatible on PS5 but I don't expect the tradition to continue on future console generations.

In my opinion, backwards compatibility seems to be taken for granted as Xbox 360 titles are a large component of what makes Xbox Game Pass so good. I’ve seen many raving about N64 classic Goldeneye releasing on Xbox, so clearly the hunger for older titles still exists. It’s personally been one of my favourite things about Xbox in recent years, as its first party lineup has been lacking since the Xbox One era.

Booting up my Xbox Series S and being able to play games I loved on the Xbox 360 and original Xbox is a joy (it also helps that the Xbox Series S and Steam Deck are great for emulation). We can only hope that this doesn’t turn out to be a bad omen for backwards compatibility on Xbox. You can check out the list of 17 game next week below.

Here’s the list of 17 games which will be disappearing from Xbox storefronts after Tuesday, February 7, helpfully curated by Pure Xbox.