Talk:List of backward-compatible games for Xbox One and Series X/S

Size of games
In what way is this information notable or important to the article? Please remember that Wikipedia is not intended to include every possible detail. Please explain the purpose of having the file sizes when practically no other video-game article has it (especially and including FA-class articles). Preferably, a reliable source explaining why this different is notable or important for others to be aware of. -- McDoob AU93  23:29, 6 July 2015 (UTC)

How is it important? Xbox One consoles come with limited storage space. By far, most are sold with 500gb harddrives, of which approximately one fourth is reserved for system use and not available for storage of games. Xbox 360 games were designed with one of several maximum sizes based upon release type. Early digital games were limited to 50mb, early disk games about 6gb. Later digital games may not feature a maximum filesize, and later disk games may be over 7gb, with a second disk of that size also required to be installed for a total of more than 14gb. This variable has a profound impact upon the amount of games one may fit on their console at one time. It is worthy of noting in this article because the same game packaged for use on Xbox 360 may be as many as 4gb less large than it would be packaged for use on Xbox One. Hypothetically, a 4gb game may then take twice as much space on to play on Xbox One. Some persons are sure to find this data of use in their choice of which console to use for which games. I cannot provide a public link to this citation as the page upon which it is answered is not public and requires an account to access.

Two small columns only wide enough to each fit "14.1gb" are certainly not endangering the article of "includ[ing] every possible detail".

"practically no other video-game article has it" Other systems which provide backwards compatibility do so by having a program which interprets the ORIGINAL code - the games remain the same size. This, being completely different, is most certainly of note and of interest. As it can impact the number of games one can have available at once (by at most half) it is a fair and reasonable consumer concern. For example: One may play Halo 2 on Xbox 360 just by loading the disk (if the 360 has an official harddrive - the only way to have the Xbox emulator). To play Halo: Reach on Xbox One, you can load the disk, but you still have to download a title specific emulator update which is rolled into a copy of the entire original game which you must download. This article very well handles the fact that the original game must be downloaded, and the additional size (up to 4gb) is just as worth nothing for the same reasons and more.

"Preferably, a reliable source explaining why this different is notable or important for others to be aware of" Well Xbox clearly consider it notable, as they've answered it in a FAQ. Again, sorry, but login is required to access that so I can't just give a simple link. I'm also not even sure why a citation is need for size mattering, but it's privately available from Xbox.174.16.229.237 (talk) 22:30, 11 August 2015 (UTC)LZ

Wikipedia straw poll: Three people cared enough to add size information, two cared enough to remove that information. Not much to go by, but there you have it.174.16.229.237 (talk) 22:43, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

Fallout 3
Hi, I thought that the BC on Fallout 3 was open to everyone who owns the disc based version as well as the digital version, not just the users who pre-ordered Fallout 4. Wagnerp16 (talk) 19:06, 9 October 2015 (UTC)


 * It is. This is just a bonus way for users to get it, much in the same way a people who buy Gears of War Ultimate Edition getting the four Xbox 360 Gears games ... if you already owned them on disc, you can still play them that way. For that matter, even people who already own Fallout 3 may prefer this, since you'd have to insert the disc to enable playing the BC file on Xbox One; with the bonus, that's no longer necessary. -- McDoob  AU93  19:12, 9 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I misinterpreted the notes section. It can't come soon enough, as I don't really want to boot up my old Xbox 360 anymore! Wagnerp16 (talk) 07:32, 10 October 2015 (UTC)

The list
Major Nelson posted the list today of what will be available come the 12th. (Can't fix this now, just a reminder.) Zero Serenity (talk - contributions) 14:20, 9 November 2015 (UTC)

Question
Of what value is the "Plaform" column? Wouldn't users just click on the article for the game to learn what it was? If consensus is to leave it in, it'll stay, and I won't make any changes during the discussion, as it is what consensus appears to support at this time. -- McDoob AU93  15:40, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

Release dates and Games With Gold
Anon IPs have been adding dates for April's Games With Gold releases, Dead Space and Saint's Row IV, that match their release dates via Games With Gold. These are not necessarily the release dates of the compatibility, although they would most certainly be the latest-possible dates they will be added. It has happened before that compatibility was added prior to the planned release of the software, so just adding the GWG release date would be an original interpretation. -- McDoob AU93  18:19, 29 March 2016 (UTC)


 * Aaaaand we have another proof to never assume, as Dead Space was added early. -- McDoob  AU93  16:22, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

Major Nelson
Please stop citing Major Nelson (a primary source) and instead cite one of the secondary sources (WP:VG/RS) czar  15:07, 30 May 2016 (UTC)
 * WP:PRIMARY sources are allowed in certain circumstances. In this case, the sole reason for the usage is because they say it's been released, and they would know better than anyone. Is there a reason that it should not be used here? -- McDoob  AU93  18:00, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

The BioShock Situation
With the BioShock Collection right around the corner, I think most of us would agree that the 360 versions of those games probably won't ever be made backwards-compatible. Everyone knows they were originally announced last year, but that was before 2K announced their collection, and it's highly-unlikely that MS or 2K will ever address this situation to say that the 360 versions aren't happening.

Removing them from this list entirely isn't a good option, but rather than have these games stuck in "TBA limbo" on this list for the foreseeable future, I'm wondering if there's maybe a better way we can refer to them here--a way we can both acknowledge that they were part of the initial announcement, but also acknowledge that they probably won't ever be coming. Perhaps by changing the current status from TBA to something like "Likely canceled," or possibly even removing them from the main list and putting them in a new list altogether. I'd just like to see something a little more descriptive to hopefully avoid any further confusion or edit conflicts regarding these titles.

Would you kindly leave your thoughts regarding this matter? Thank you. 68.229.251.51 (talk) 08:31, 6 September 2016 (UTC)


 * I don't think there is a situation. Barring a publication stating specifically "they ain't happening", we have had no information stating they ain't happening. Any statement otherwise would be personal conjecture, which is not permitted. -- McDoob  AU93  18:51, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

Redundant references
There are multiple, differently-numbered references that all point to the Majornelson.com compatibility page. While I'm sure there different references were created at the different times the page was updated, they all ultimately link to the same page as it exists now. Would it make sense to just keep using the same reference over and over? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.1.180.2 (talk) 15:51, 30 September 2016 (UTC)


 * I took a look and made a single reference at the top of the column with the last-updated date, then removed all the other references. If a source is something other than Major Nelson's blog, it stays, since it might reference something else in the notes. -- McDoob  AU93  18:33, 4 October 2016 (UTC)

Back-compat and Game Pass
Some good-faith anons decided to add the availability of certain games through Xbox Game Pass. Again, while it has the best intentions, there is a problem. Microsoft has already stated that games will rotate in and out of the Game Pass catalog from time to time, much as films rotate in and out of Netflix's library. So just because a game is included in the test catalog, or is in the catalog when the service launches officially, does not mean that the game will remain there indefinitely. That would create problems down the road as games are rotated out, and it's not Wikipedia's mission to include what's in Game Pass at any given moment, just as it is not its mission to include what's on Netflix at any given moment. -- McDoob AU93  11:43, 30 March 2017 (UTC)

Counting problems ... again
I am not a fan of the entries that say "currently there are X games" in the list. It smacks of original analysis that is prone to error. Case in point: earlier, a user set up the row counter template, and it generates a value of 422 as of the date of this posting. However, a well-meaning IP was using a manually-entered value based on what was just added and generated 423. Well, I decided to take a look at the list today (15 September 2017, about 1300 UTC) and manually counted them ... and got 419. This number includes the various Japan-only titles that are also back-compatible.

For sake of research, and to help prove my point that this is a problem, I've included my count of the games below for users to check, as I am not ruling out a math or counting error (I already found one error in my counting).

Total = 419
 * Number + A = 23
 * B = 39
 * C = 33
 * D = 34
 * E = 8
 * F = 21
 * G = 26
 * H = 15
 * I = 7
 * J = 10
 * K = 5
 * L = 12
 * M = 32
 * N = 6
 * O = 6
 * P = 21
 * Q = 2
 * R = 14
 * S = 67
 * T = 20
 * U = 3
 * V = 4
 * W = 7
 * X = 2
 * Z = 2

Due to the discrepancy, I've removed the list pending an actual source for the entries. -- McDoob AU93  12:59, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

Xbox One X Enhanced games
Just wondering if it might be worth (if not now, then some point down the line) adding an extra column for whether or not a game has been enhanced for the Xbox One X. At the moment there are only 7 games announced, so the notes column will likely suffice. Just wanted other people's opinions Brooza (talk) 12:43, 7 November 2017 (UTC)

Release dates, again
The statement "In January 2016, Microsoft announced that future titles would be added as they became available, instead of waiting until a specific day each month" comes straight from the source that's attached to it. If you have a source that states that (1) games have ONLY been released on those dates and (2) they will ONLY be released on those dates, you're free to provide it. The context is not that they'll wait until the end of the month or first of the month or what-not to add games. Again, provide a new source and the sentence can go. -- McDoob AU93  17:38, 6 March 2018 (UTC)

Game available on two consoles
Some games, like Borderlands 2 and Assassin's Creed IV are available on 360 and Xbox One as different titles. Should we make notes of this whenever it happens Zero Serenity (talk - contributions) 16:11, 3 April 2018 (UTC)

Potential Page Rename?
Is there a reason why this page is called List of backward compatible games for Xbox One? Currently, the similar page for Xbox games compatible with Xbox 360 was titled List of Xbox games compatible with Xbox 360, and prior to its removal in late 2017, a page titled List of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games compatible with PlayStation 3. With that in mind, wouldn't it make sense for the title of this page to be 'List of Xbox and Xbox 360 games compatible with Xbox One', or would the use of this title wording be less desirable due to more words/the nature of backward compatible games always requiring a download (unlike previous consoles, which read the game data directly from disc while running)? Pokemonred200 (talk) 15:42, 15 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Too wordy if we're being honest. We could throw redirects in if its that much searched for, but I doubt it. Zero Serenity (talk - contributions) 15:48, 15 January 2019 (UTC)

Games that were removed from backwards compatibility
There were a few games that were once in backwards compatibility but have since been removed. An example of this would be Persona 4 Arena. Should there be a separate list of games that were once on the list but were removed at some point?

FPS Boost/Auto HDR
Are fps boost enhancements notable enough to give a separate column from Xbox One X enhancements? And is auto hdr even worth noting at all?

Oofboi69240 (talk) 13:44, 16 December 2021 (UTC)

References to Atari Flashback Classics is misleading and inaccurate.
For starters, XBLA Warlords on the BC list is the 2012 fully 3D reboot by Griptonite Games. It's not the 2008 Stainless Games developed XBLA game that included the original arcade Warlords as one of its modes. So no, it's not in Atari Flashback Classics Volume 1 in any way, shape, or form (Only original Atari arcade games and 2600 games running via emulation are included on there).

Furthermore, these Stainless Games ports while including "classic" modes along with their reimagined modes (Both modes with original speed and sped-up "Throttle" options), aren't very accurate and were relatively poorly done ports of the arcade originals. No background thump in Asteroids for instance. And even if we ignore that and deem them the equal of the quality emulated versions of the arcade originals in Atari Flashback Classics, the Stainless Games XBLA games were a lot more than just a port of a classic game and that's where they're special.

The reimagined mode that each of them had, which mixed up the gameplay while completely redoing the graphics and audio, remains exclusive to the XBLA downloads and isn't present on Atari Flashback Classics line which just features pure emulations of the original 1970's and 80's arcade code.

So no, these aren't "also available as part of Atari Flashback Classics Volume 1 & 2 for Xbox One". You have to actually have the XBLA game to have these on your Xbox One or Series systems. 2603:7081:C02:5700:2023:5082:C2B9:28EB (talk) 06:45, 13 July 2022 (UTC)