Xbox 360 Backwards Compatibility Performance Improved On Xbox One Thanks To Upgraded Emulator

After complaints surfaced that some backwards compatible Xbox 360 games weren't running properly on the Xbox One, software engineers at Microsoft got busy working on a system update, one that is now available. Early reports are that certain Xbox 360 games are running much better after applying the update.

Microsoft's Major Nelson (Larry Hryb) stated in a Twitter post that the changes amounted to a "few behind the scenes bug fixes" and that no new features have been added this time around. He also confirmed that Microsoft didn't provide any release notes for this latest update, leaving Xbox One owners to figure things out for themselves. It appears they have.

Xbox 360 Games

"Tested on Banjo Nuts and Bolts, Dirt Showdown, and Fable 2. Banjo and Fable are now MUCH smoother in the areas that bogged them down before," an Xbox One user stated on Reddit. "Getting around parts of Showdown Town in Banjo was almost unplayable before, but now runs much better. Same with Fable 2. It's still not perfect, and there is the odd hitch here and there that wasn't there before, but I'll take this over the old performance any day."


One of the takeaways from this is that Microsoft is committed to improving its Xbox 360 emulator on the Xbox One. That's good new for anyone with an extensive library of supported titles, or a just a handful of titles, ones that happen to run crummy on the Xbox One.

At present, Microsoft supports over 120 Xbox 360 titles on the Xbox One, a full list of which is available online (PDF). More are being added, and as long as you own the title, you can play them for free on the Xbox One (no Xbox Live Gold subscription required).