Featured image: Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC key art. Source: Microsoft, Xbox Wire
Xbox turns 25 this week, and Microsoft picked a fitting way to celebrate. On November 12 it added 21 more original Xbox games to Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC, taking the library from four games to exactly 25. One game for every year of the brand. The new batch includes TimeSplitters 2, Morrowind, Grabbed by the Ghoulies and a startling eleven Star Wars games, and four of the 25 now support achievements for the first time in their lives.
That last part matters more than it sounds. Original Xbox games shipped years before Microsoft invented the achievement system in 2005, so Knights of the Old Republic, Conker and Blinx have never had a single one. Now they do, on PC and on Xbox consoles. Here is everything that arrived, what it actually takes to play, and which of these games you could not legally play on a PC until this week.
The short version
- What: 21 new original Xbox games on PC, 25 in total
- When: Available now, since November 12, 2026
- Where: The Xbox app on Windows 11 PCs and handhelds like the ROG Xbox Ally
- New features: Mouse and keyboard support in all 25 games, first ever achievements in four
- Game Pass: Six of the 25 are included with Game Pass, the rest are purchases
- Catch: Windows 11 only, select markets only
From four games in July to 25 in November
Microsoft opened the program on July 22 in what it called an early release state. The launch lineup was small and very first party: BLiNX: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and Fuzion Frenzy. All four are on Game Pass, and if you already owned a digital copy on Xbox, the PC version simply showed up in your library through Xbox Play Anywhere, with saves shared across console, PC and cloud.
Microsoft was also clear from day one that these are not bare emulated ROMs. The PC versions get up to 4x resolution upscaling, VSync, fullscreen and windowed modes, anisotropic filtering and better anti-aliasing. With this week’s update, Microsoft says it also improved performance and stability for the original four, and added mouse and keyboard support across the whole library. For a shooter like TimeSplitters 2, that last change is the difference between a curiosity and something you will actually play.
The jump from four to 25 is also a big change in tone. The July lineup was Microsoft dipping a toe in with games it owns outright. The November batch leans heavily on third party publishers, most obviously Lucasfilm Games, which suggests the licensing side of the program is now working.
The 25 game library at a glance
Breakdown of all original Xbox games now on PC, based on Microsoft’s official list
25
Games in the PC library
6
Included with Game Pass
4
Games with brand new achievements
The full list of original Xbox games on PC
Here is every game in the program right now. The “Native PC version before?” column is our own addition, because it tells you a lot about why some of these are a much bigger deal than others.
| Game | Added | Native PC version before? |
|---|---|---|
| BLiNX: The Time Sweeper (Game Pass, achievements) | July | No |
| Conker: Live and Reloaded (Game Pass, achievements) | July | No |
| Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge (Game Pass) | July | No |
| Fuzion Frenzy (Game Pass) | July | No |
| Armed and Dangerous | November | Yes |
| Disney’s Chicken Little | November | Yes |
| The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Game Pass) | November | Yes |
| Grabbed by the Ghoulies (Game Pass) | November | No |
| Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb | November | Yes |
| Red Faction II | November | Yes |
| Secret Weapons Over Normandy | November | Yes |
| Star Wars Battlefront | November | Yes |
| Star Wars Battlefront II | November | Yes |
| Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith | November | No |
| Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy | November | Yes |
| Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast | November | Yes |
| Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter | November | No |
| Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (achievements) | November | Yes |
| Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (achievements) | November | Yes |
| Star Wars: Republic Commando | November | Yes |
| Star Wars: Starfighter, Special Edition | November | Base game only |
| Star Wars: The Clone Wars | November | No |
| Thrillville | November | No |
| TimeSplitters 2 | November | No |
| TimeSplitters: Future Perfect | November | No |
The real headline: games that were never on PC
A fair first reaction to the list is “I already own half of these on Steam.” That is true. KOTOR, Jedi Academy, Republic Commando, both classic Battlefronts and Morrowind have been sold on PC for two decades. For those games the Xbox versions are a nice option for handheld players and for anyone who already bought them on console, but they are not essential.
The other half is a different story. By our count, ten of the 25 games never had an official PC release at all, and they include some of the most requested games in the whole Xbox catalog.
- TimeSplitters 2 and Future Perfect. Free Radical’s shooters are the two biggest additions here. They only ever came out on PS2, GameCube and Xbox, and fans have been begging for a proper PC or remaster release for close to 20 years. Now they are a purchase away, with mouse and keyboard support.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Jedi Starfighter and Revenge of the Sith. Three console only Star Wars games that PC players have mostly known through YouTube.
- Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Conker and Blinx. Rare and Artoon oddities that never left Microsoft’s consoles.
- Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and Fuzion Frenzy. The first Crimson Skies started on PC in 2000, but the Xbox sequel never followed it back.
- Thrillville. Frontier’s theme park game, which got a PC sequel but never a PC release of the original.
Achievements arrive for original Xbox games, finally
Microsoft calls this one of the top requested features from its community, and it is easy to see why. Starting now, you can earn achievements in four games:
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
- BLiNX: The Time Sweeper
- Conker: Live and Reloaded
Three details are worth knowing. First, the achievements are not PC exclusive. They also apply when you play these games on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, so install the latest system update if you play on console. Second, Microsoft says achievements may unlock retroactively in some cases based on progress you have already made, so an old KOTOR save could pay out the moment you load it. Third, Microsoft says it designed each list together with the original developers and publishers, and it plans to bring achievements to more original Xbox games over time.
KOTOR is a slightly funny pick, since the Steam version of KOTOR II already got Steam achievements years ago through an Aspyr update. But on the Xbox side, these are the first gamerscore points ever attached to an original Xbox game, and that is a small piece of history.
What you get on PC versus the original console
Original Xbox (2001 to 2005)
Resolution: mostly 480p
Controls: Duke or Controller S
Achievements: none, the system did not exist yet
Saves: local hard drive or memory unit
Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC
Resolution: up to 4x upscaling, VSync, windowed mode
Controls: controller plus mouse and keyboard
Achievements: in four games, more planned
Saves: synced through Xbox Play Anywhere
How to play original Xbox games on your PC
The setup is simple, but there are a couple of conditions that will rule some people out.
- Be on Windows 11. Microsoft lists it as a hard requirement. Windows 10 PCs are not supported.
- Install the Xbox app and sign in with your Microsoft account. The games run through the app, so you do not need a separate emulator.
- Check your library. If you already own a digital copy of a supported game on Xbox, it should appear on PC automatically through Xbox Play Anywhere.
- Buy or claim the rest. Six games are on Game Pass. The other 19 need a purchase.
- Check your region. Microsoft says the feature is limited to select markets, and specific features vary by game. Its game compatibility page at xbox.com/game-compatibility has the details.
Tip: Handheld players get the most out of this. On a ROG Xbox Ally, games like Conker or TimeSplitters 2 run in the Xbox full screen experience and behave much like they did on the original console, just with sharper visuals and a much smaller screen.
Why Microsoft is doing this now
The obvious answer is the anniversary. The original Xbox launched in North America on November 15, 2001, and a 25 game drop for a 25th birthday is the kind of tidy marketing that writes itself. But there is a bigger strategy behind it.
Microsoft has spent the last two years turning Xbox from a box into a platform that lives on consoles, PCs, handhelds and the cloud. Hardware sales keep falling, and our breakdown of the latest Xbox earnings showed hardware revenue down another 14% while content and services held up far better. In that world, a deep back catalog that you can carry to any Windows device is one of the few advantages Xbox has that Steam does not. Steam has more games, but it does not have TimeSplitters 2.
The ownership angle matters too. Xbox has started charging by the hour to stream games you already own in the cloud, which went down about as well as you would expect. Letting people run their old purchases locally on a PC, with saves that follow them, is a much friendlier message and a good counterweight to that story.
And there is a nice bit of timing for Bethesda fans. Morrowind joining the program on PC comes a week after Bethesda confirmed that The Elder Scrolls 6 is called Sentinel, so anyone looking for a long Elder Scrolls trip down memory lane has one more way to take it.
What is still missing
Twenty five games is a good start, but the console side of Xbox backward compatibility covers well over 70 original Xbox titles. Plenty of favorites are still not on PC. Ninja Gaiden Black, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Jade Empire and Psychonauts all come up constantly in fan requests, and the original Halo 2 is still only playable through the Master Chief Collection remaster. Some of these already have PC versions in other forms, while others are tangled up in music or licensing rights with outside publishers.
Microsoft’s wording is encouraging though. It says it will “bring even more original XBOX games to PC in the future” and add achievements to more of them over time. If the pace from July to November holds, the library could plausibly double again by next year.
For now, the best thing about this update is simple. TimeSplitters 2 is legally playable on PC with a mouse, KOTOR has gamerscore, and a pile of early 2000s Star Wars games that only lived on console are finally a click away. For a 25th birthday present, that is pretty good.
Sources: Xbox Wire, 25 original Xbox games on PC, Kotaku, GameSpot, July launch, Gematsu, VGC, Pure Xbox.
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