Microsoft recently introduced official Xbox backward compatibility on Windows 11, allowing original Xbox games to run locally on PCs and compatible handheld devices.
The early-release programme currently includes four games: Blinx: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live & Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and Fuzion Frenzy. Microsoft plans to expand the programme over time and add Achievements to the first four titles in the coming months.
A technical analysis of the newly released games has now uncovered evidence suggesting that Microsoft could eventually use the same system to bring Xbox 360 games to PC.
Security researcher Milenko examined the Windows 11 version of Fuzion Frenzy and found that Microsoft’s compatibility software identifies itself as XeO3.
According to the researcher, XeO3 emulates key parts of the Xbox 360 hardware environment, including its Xenon PowerPC processor, hypervisor and Xenos graphics processor, using Direct3D on Windows.
The name is also a reference to XeO3, the chemical formula for xenon trioxide. The original Xbox 360 processor was known as Xenon.
The setup is more complicated than simply running an original Xbox emulator directly on Windows.
The original Xbox games appear to run through XeFu, Microsoft’s original Xbox compatibility layer for the Xbox 360. XeO3 first recreates the required Xbox 360 environment on Windows, and XeFu then runs the original Xbox game inside it.
In simple terms, the PC emulates an Xbox 360 environment, which then handles the original Xbox game through another compatibility layer.
Developers behind XWine1, an unofficial Xbox One compatibility layer for PC, experimented with components from Microsoft’s newly released system.
The developers reportedly combined the Windows version of XeO3 with SlimEra, a component developed for XWine1. This allowed them to launch additional backward-compatible original Xbox and Xbox 360 games from locally dumped files.
One of the Xbox 360 games shown running through the modified setup was Plants vs. Zombies.
The result does not mean that users can officially install arbitrary Xbox 360 games through Microsoft’s Xbox PC application. It came from an unofficial technical experiment involving extracted software components.
However, it demonstrates that the compatibility technology released for Windows can process at least some Xbox 360 software.
Microsoft has only announced support for selected original Xbox games on PC.
The company described the programme as the beginning of a wider effort to preserve older Xbox games and bring them to PC over time. It did not specifically mention Xbox 360 titles in its announcement.
The presence of an Xbox 360 environment inside the compatibility package does not guarantee a public Xbox 360 programme. Microsoft may have used this approach because its existing original Xbox compatibility system was already designed to run inside the Xbox 360 environment.
Still, adapting the system for Windows would give Microsoft much of the technical foundation needed to bring supported Xbox 360 games to PC.
Individual titles would likely require testing, licensing approval, and additional compatibility work before Microsoft could release them officially.
Microsoft has confirmed that the current four-game lineup is only the beginning of Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC.
The available games support up to four times resolution upscaling, VSync, enhanced anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering and fullscreen or windowed display modes. Users can also customise language and audio settings.
Each game is available for individual purchase and through all Xbox Game Pass plans. Existing digital licences also carry over from Xbox consoles through Xbox Play Anywhere.
Microsoft has not revealed which games will join the programme next or when it will expand the catalogue.
The datamined technology makes Xbox 360 support technically possible, but players will need to wait for an official announcement before treating it as a confirmed feature.
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