Microsoft gave a big boost to backward compatibility on Xbox One by announcing the addition of original Xbox games to the program during its E3 2017 briefing, but Microsoft may have even bigger plans still ahead. In a new interview with PC Gamer, Xbox chief Phil Spencer hints that we could see emulation for original Xbox games come to PC in an official capacity.
When asked whether Xbox emulation could be in the cards for PC, Spencer was quick to answer in the affirmative. After explaining the difficulty of emulating the Xbox 360 because of its PowerPC architecture and the variable nature of PC specs, Spencer was more bullish about the original Xbox because of its x86 architecture. From Spencer:
The original Xbox, OG Xbox, is a little bit easier, because that was an x86 chip it was running on. Obviously when we think about UWP and the ability for games to run across console and PC, we're getting closer. I want developers to be able to build portable applications, which is why we've been focusing on UWP for games and even apps that want to run on multiple devices.So I think we've got work to go do there, but I think it's in our future.
Spencer was also asked about the possibility for an Xbox Game Pass-like service for PC. And while he wasn't willing to announce anything, Spencer did confirm that the team is looking into bringing the Netflix-style game subscription service to PC in some capacity.
This follows on comments Spencer made in another interview today, in which the Xbox chief commented on the Xbox One X's position in the marketplace, and how Microsoft sees the Xbox One S as a more apt competitor to the PS4 pro.
