Microsoft has launched Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC, letting players run select classic console titles on Windows PCs and handhelds such as the Xbox Ally X for the first time. The early preview begins immediately with four games, and owners of the titles automatically receive a PC licence, while the games also join Xbox Game Pass for PC Game Pass and Ultimate subscribers, plus Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming. The move is being read as a rare bright spot for Xbox after a torrid month for the brand.

The initial line-up covers Blinx: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and Fuzion Frenzy, with new PC-specific features including up to 4x resolution upscaling, VSync, windowed and fullscreen modes, anisotropic filtering, enhanced anti-aliasing and customisable language and audio options. Achievements are planned for these and future backward-compatible titles via an update later this year. The announcement follows Xbox layoffs of 1,600 staff with another 1,600 planned this financial year, studio closures including Double Fine, Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games and Undead Labs, and comes amid rumours of a disc-free next-generation Xbox and reports of a possible disc-to-digital licence transfer scheme.