Microsoft has made a huge effort with backwards compatible games for Xbox Series S and X. Not only are all games from Xbox One playable, but also a big selection of titles from Xbox 360 and the original Xbox. And they are even improved in several ways.
But this big selection from Xbox 360 and Xbox is not every game, and there are titles missing. So will there be more additions in the future? This is actually quite possible, but there are some major hurdles along the way, according to the Xbox Director of Program Management Jason Ronald. In an interview with Inverse, he explains this and how Microsoft approached backwards compatibility:
"We started on day one of the program. We've been working on the Xbox Series X and Series S since 2016. Before we even had silicon, we would take performance captures of existing games and run them on a simulator of the next-generation chip. That allowed us to identify potential issues in the silicon before it was even produced. With every iteration, we tested to make sure games continued to run. Then we would look at how to enhance some of these titles. That's where techniques like Auto HDR came from.
For about the last year, we've gone through test passes, which can take 16 to 24 hours for a single game. We had an army of testers, approximately 500 of them, who went through all of them based on a priority order. If they found issues, our backwards compatibility team would fix that, with no work by developers. The onus is on us to make sure that these games continue to work."
More backwards compatible games are something they would like to add, but it is seemingly very hard to achieve:
"Yeah, it's definitely something we're looking into. Some of the challenges are technical, but more often than not it comes down to licensing. In some cases, the developer or publisher doesn't exist anymore. Even tracking down who we need approvals from can be very, very difficult."
We really wouldn't mind to revisit improved versions of games like Batman: Arkham City, Burnout 3: Takedown and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath for Xbox Series S and X - so fingers crossed Microsoft finds solutions for these issues.