Xbox One Backward Compatible Games Have Been Played For Over 840 Million Hours

Backwards compatibility is a hugely important feature. I know there are many who will argue it is not, but especially in the age of digital ecosystems, continuity of ownership is very important. Which is why Microsoft’s efforts at securing cross generational compatibility on the Xbox One are so laudable.

Apparently, they have paid off for them, too- in an announcement today, Microsoft confirmed that since the feature was made available, over 840 million hours of Xbox 360 and original Xbox backward compatible offerings have been played on Xbox One consoles. That’s truly a remarkable number, and it indicates that Xbox users are engaging with this feature in a big way.

Presently, the Xbox One is the only console with any form of backward compatibility on the market; the PS4 offers no backward compatibility whatsoever, though users can rebuy a handful of PS2 games on it if they want. The Switch has no backward compatibility either, though a Virtual Console for it is apparently on the cards.