A new Xbox roadmap that was leaked courtesy of social media user eXtas1s and corroborated by The Verge indicates that the company has plans to expand its backwards compatibility program to also bring PC into the mix. According to the roadmap, which was reportedly sent to publishers, Microsoft plans to make its disc-to-digital program available to the general audience across Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S this month.
This will be followed up with backwards compatibility on PC featuring support for games released on the original Xbox. These titles will seemingly be available to purchase through the Xbox app, and can also be played through Game Pass. The roadmap caps things off by listing its long-term plan for 2027 to 2028, which involves a gradual rollout of the Xbox 360 catalogue across “next-gen Xbox devices”. Interestingly, eXtas1s has noted that these new programs will be opt-in for publishers, and they can charge players for the disc-to-digital conversion if they desire.
“For both programs, Xbox manages all engineering, certification, and support efforts. You, the Publisher, keeps full control over rights, pricing, and brand; your only lift is opting in and setting commercial terms. Both programs reactivate dormant SKUs, unlock new audiences on PC and handheld, and create ready-made re-release opportunities – no porting efforts required,” reads the roadmap’s directive towards publishers.
It is worth noting, however, that the roadmap may have been hit with delays. July was meant to be the beginning of public beta testing of the disc-to-digital conversion program through Microsoft’s Insider program. However, this hasn’t yet happened, which might also mean that the release of the program for the general public – originally scheduled for August – might get delayed.
The fact that “next-gen Xbox devices” was mentioned lends strong credence to the idea that Xbox 360 titles might become playable on PC as well. Since Microsoft’s next-gen console, Project Helix, has essentially been described as being closer to a PC in terms of how open its systems will be, we might see the backwards compatibility features extend beyond just sticking to Xbox platforms.
A recent report indicated that Microsoft had planned to continue supporting physical discs for its consoles before the major Xbox reset from last month. According to Digital Foundry’s John Linneman, even Project Helix would have supported discs in some fashion – potentially through add-on disc drives. While Microsoft itself hasn’t made any statement regarding physical media in light of Sony’s announcement that it is ending PlayStation disc production in 2028, it is believed that the company wants users to potentially carry forward their older games onto newer hardware.
“One thing I’ve heard from a couple of sources, and this is just kind of like potential rumory stuff, but at least before the current Xbox reset – I don’t know where it is now – it sounds like Microsoft was actually very much going to continue disc support. Not because they valued retail disc sales, but because they wanted to ensure that all your Xbox games were still playable on new Xboxes.”
In the meantime, there have also been reports about Xbox potentially leaving Steam. However, at least for now, it looks like the company wants to hang on to the massive audience made available by Valve’s storefront.
