Microsoft Launches 25 Original Xbox Games for PC Play

Image: Here are the 25 original Xbox games you can now play on PC · Source

To celebrate Xbox’s 25th anniversary, Microsoft now offers 25 original Xbox titles playable on Windows PCs, including popular Star Wars games, with keyboard and mouse support and initial achievements.

Marking the 25th anniversary of the Xbox console, Microsoft has expanded its efforts to preserve classic gaming by making 25 original Xbox games available to play on Windows PCs. This update builds on an earlier July rollout that began with only four games, demonstrating considerable progress in extending backward compatibility to PC gamers.

The newly accessible titles range from cult classics to popular franchises, with a notable emphasis on Star Wars games. The lineup includes Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel, various Star Wars Battlefront entries, Jedi Academy, Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast, and other titles like Conker: Live and Reloaded, Blinx: The Time Sweeper, and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

All these games now support keyboard and mouse controls on PC, broadening accessibility and convenience for players. Moreover, Microsoft has introduced achievements to select original Xbox titles for the first time — specifically for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Blinx, and Conker — with plans to extend this feature to more titles. Achievements are also accessible when playing these games on Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles following a recent system update.

However, original Xbox and Xbox 360 discs cannot be used to access these games on PC due to the absence of a disc-to-digital program for those older discs, which lack the unique serial numbers embedded in later Xbox One discs. Instead, the backward compatibility is enabled through emulation technology.

While many of the new additions are not yet part of the Xbox Game Pass subscription, some—such as Blinx, Conker, Crimson Skies, Fusion Frenzy, Morrowind, and Grabbed by the Ghoulies—are included. Looking forward, leaked Microsoft documents suggest a full launch of original Xbox games on PC is planned for October 2026, accompanied by a gradual rollout of Xbox 360 titles to next-gen consoles between 2027 and 2028.

These developments hint at Microsoft's broader strategy with upcoming hardware like the Xbox Helix, expected to support games spanning every Xbox generation and operate fundamentally as a Windows PC. This backward compatibility initiative enhances the bridge between classic Xbox content and modern gaming platforms, ensuring that legacy games remain accessible to new audiences.