Nearly Half Of All Xbox One Owners Play Backwards Compatible Games, Says Spencer

Almost half of all Xbox One owners have spent time playing games via the console’s backwards compatibility service, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said. “Now over 300 back compat titles,” says Spencer via Twitter, adding that “nearly 50% of XB1 owners playing BC games is great to see. Thanks for supporting the program.”

Launched back in 2015 with a small – but respectable – library of Xbox 360 games, the service has since expanded to include a huge number of titles, including the likes of Red Dead Redemption and Call of Duty: Black Ops II, both of which saw their sales numbers skyrocket following the move.

Now over 300 back compat titles. Nearly 50% of XB1 owners playing BC games is great to see. Thanks for supporting the program.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) December 13, 2016

It’s not clear how much time players have spent revisiting their favorites via the service, but it’s clearly turned out to be a good decision on Microsoft’s part, whatever the case. Sony opted not to follow the precedent set by its competitor, its European boss Jim Ryan stating last year that the company was simply taking “a different path,” preferring instead to place emphasis on “delivering on the promises we made right at the start of this whole PS4 thing, to be the forward-looking, socially-connected console.” Will Sony reconsider its stance after the apparent success of the Xbox One‘s backwards compatibility feature? Not likely, although it does offer PlayStation Now as a somewhat similar alternative.

Spencer’s comments follow the recent confirmation that BioShock, BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite are all now available via backwards compatibility. A welcome trio of additions, to be sure, although you’re probably better off playing the recently released remasters instead.