Four classic Xbox games are headed to PC as part of a new program from Microsoft. These older titles, currently available on Xbox Game Pass, will now be playable on desktops, laptops and handheld devices such as the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X.
On Wednesday, the Xbox Backward Compatibility preview went live, allowing owners of four original Xbox Blinx titles: Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and Fuzion Frenzy – to play them on their Windows PC and handhelds. Microsoft says it will release more features for these games in the future, including Xbox achievements.
These four games may be over 20 years old, but Microsoft has added some options to improve the gaming experience. Players can change graphics settings, including up to 4x resolution boost, VSync support, display mode options, anisotropic filtering, advanced anti-aliasing and more customization to improve the look of these older titles.
Each game is available for $10 on the Xbox Store, and once owned on Xbox, can be played on PC or mobile devices via Xbox Play Anywhere or streamed via Xbox Cloud Gaming. The titles are also available on Xbox Game Pass.
To play these games on a desktop, laptop or mobile device, it must meet certain hardware specifications:
Basic 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:
- The GPURadeon RX 68005 or Nvidia GTX 1070 Ti or Intel Arc A770
- CPU: 6 cores and 12 cores 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
Microsoft says that the Xbox Backward Compatibility program is a form of game saving, which has become a concern for gamers. With Sony announcing that it will release portable discs and Nintendo’s Game-Key cards that don’t contain actual games, many worry that game ownership will depend entirely on publishers rather than something tangible to hold on to. There is a growing number of deleted games that are no longer available to those who purchased them, and with the future of games looking uncertain due to the current memory shortage, many fear that their digital game collections may simply disappear from their accounts.
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