Xbox One Exec Responds to Report about Low Backwards Compatibility Usage

[Megalith]

The chief marketing officer of Xbox is contesting reports of Xbox One users largely ignoring backward-compatible Xbox 360 games, revealing that gamers have logged more than 508 million hours of gaming on older titles. He also states that 50% of gamers have played a backwards compatible title on their console. Even Phil Spencer has chimed in, saying that “quality games last and are worth playing”: usually, there are one or two backwards-compatible titles in the daily list of top-played games.

Earlier this week, a report claimed that Xbox One owners "largely ignore" the console's backwards compatibility functionality. Now, Microsoft has responded. Xbox chief marketing officer Mike Nichols shared some data points on Twitter about backwards compatibility usage. He said around half of all Xbox One owners have used backwards compatibility, accruing more than 508 million collective hours playing Xbox 360 games on Xbox One. This is up from 145 million hours in August 2016 and 210 million back in November 2016. The feature launched in November 2015.

 

[NeoNemesis]

It's a nice to have, but with them re-releasing so many remasters this gen it almost seems redundant.

Pretty sure all the big franchises like Halo, GoW, etc all have an XBone edition. Same with Skyrim, GTAV, and a bunch of other great games.

 

[Semantics]

If ps4 was backward compatible I'd buy it in a heartbeat, I never owned a ps3 for one reason or another but there are plenty of ps3 only titles that i would love to try, playing ps4 games is a bonus that will come in time as well. Xbox not so much, microsoft doesn't force permanent exclusives nearly as much as sony so not that many juicy games only available between 360/one.

 

[Nolan7689]

I largely ignore my Xbox One actually. And if I were to turn it on, I'm more likely to play an older title than a newer one.

I have a surplus of 360 titles, and Rare Replay. I've got about 6 Xbox One games, and the majority of them are also available on PC.

 

[LightsOut41]

I'd like to know if overall gaming hours are trending down.

 

[GameLifter]

I've used the backward compatibility of my Xbox One a decent amount but I still mainly play Xbox One titles.

 

[chenw]

It's a nice to have, but with them re-releasing so many remasters this gen it almost seems redundant.

Pretty sure all the big franchises like Halo, GoW, etc all have an XBone edition. Same with Skyrim, GTAV, and a bunch of other great games.

I wonder, if backwards compatibility was strong, would they need as many remasters as they do now?

 

[Gigus Fire]

I wonder, if backwards compatibility was strong, would they need as many remasters as they do now?

If you want to buy the same game over and over, why wouldn't they remaster old games and release them?
I'm assuming that textures for games are degraded for performance reasons on consoles. It should be simple enough to use higher quality textures for newer systems that can handle it and see how it runs.

 

[Deleted member 134608]

I would use it more if it didn't slow down so much on the games I want to replay. Halo Reach, for example, runs like poo on XOne so I just play on my 360.

 

[oldmanbal]

I know a lot of kids get shitty discount games from relatives and friends of the family for various gift giving occassions. While they may want to play Destiny 2, they are stuck playing a 6 year old call of duty game.

 

[bman212121]

If ps4 was backward compatible I'd buy it in a heartbeat, I never owned a ps3 for one reason or another but there are plenty of ps3 only titles that i would love to try, playing ps4 games is a bonus that will come in time as well. Xbox not so much, microsoft doesn't force permanent exclusives nearly as much as sony so not that many juicy games only available between 360/one.

If you're interested in PS3 games, it would seem like a no brainer to find a PS3 Fat. Looks like you can get one on ebay for less than $100. That has hardware PS3 and PS2 support, and full PS1 support as well. I've not seen a game it can't play, and it can upscale older games to 1080p for you. I don't see the point of a PS4 unless you really want specific games for it.

 

[DF-1]

if i could throw my ps3 out and play the games on ps4 i would do it.

 

[Semantics]

If you're interested in PS3 games, it would seem like a no brainer to find a PS3 Fat. Looks like you can get one on ebay for less than $100. That has hardware PS3 and PS2 support, and full PS1 support as well. I've not seen a game it can't play, and it can upscale older games to 1080p for you. I don't see the point of a PS4 unless you really want specific games for it.

I don't see the point in getting a ps3 for a couple games, i have a blu-ray player so the ps3 really only has 1 usage. I want more usage out of a device if i'm dedicating space to it. Money isn't an issue, it being a PS4 allows for more content to be eventually on the system. A dead system like a ps3 all the usage is already there and I don't find it adequate enough. PS1 and 2 games I run though emulators now of days just because they look soo much better and load quicker off ssd, computer is already hooked up to the tv and already have a xbox1 controller to play them. Plus in time soon enough ps3 games are going to be emulated well enough on pc, which means increase in fidelity in those games rendering it on a pc, there is already a working ps3 emulator available although the amount of games it runs is limited.

 

[GameLifter]

I would use it more if it didn't slow down so much on the games I want to replay. Halo Reach, for example, runs like poo on XOne so I just play on my 360.

The slowdown was fixed recently in a patch. Halo Reach now runs better than it did on the 360.

 

[DPI]

Xbox chief marketing officer Mike Nichols shared some data points on Twitter about backwards compatibility usage. He said around half of all Xbox One owners have used backwards compatibility, accruing more than 508 million collective hours playing Xbox 360 games on Xbox One. This is up from 145 million hours in August 2016 and 210 million back in November 2016. The feature launched in November 2015.

That datapoint is a nice deflection, but unfortunately doesn't disprove the ARS article - that playing old gen titles is mostly a nonfactor for the playerbase. That there has been an increase in hours played isnt' actually something to be proud of either, because it means less XB1 titles being engaged.

The macro issue here is that Microsoft has allowed their Xbox One exclusives library to atrophy - its mostly been rehashes of stale franchises (GoW, Forza, Halo) and used the trickle of backward-compatibility announcements as a crutch and a stopgap, while PS4 has continued to crank out exclusive after exclusive.

Backward-compat is a nice value add, but isn't a substitute for a strong current gen library. Old games don't sell new consoles.

 

[Sycraft]

Though as a counterpoint to existing data, consider the PC market. There's backward compatibility going back 15 years easily and all the way to the beginning with a bit of work. There's clearly a market in it as places like Steam sell back catalogues and GOG was created initially just to sell old games. Replaying old stuff is something people on PC seem to like to do enough that there's a lot of support for it.

Well, maybe that is because it IS easy and widely supported. You just load up and launch a game and basically all titles are supported. Perhaps if consoles were developed to that point, they'd see higher participation.

 

[tikiman2012]

My son & I still play 360 games on XB One. Still waiting for more old titles to make it to it.

 

[andrewaggb]

It would be been a big deal had they done it at launch. I still think it's a good idea and hopefully it'll allow them to keep it going on their next console and so on.

 

[Staples]

I spend more time playing backwards compatible games partially because they are cheaper to buy then new games.

I played Toy Story 3 with my son today.

 

[krotch]

If ps4 was backward compatible I'd buy it in a heartbeat, I never owned a ps3 for one reason or another but there are plenty of ps3 only titles that i would love to try, playing ps4 games is a bonus that will come in time as well. Xbox not so much, microsoft doesn't force permanent exclusives nearly as much as sony so not that many juicy games only available between 360/one.

I wouldn't say it's Sony forcing permanent exclusives, but more that the devs themselves don't feel like porting the game over. Especially if those games are from a Japanese dev. Once the game is made, rarely do they revisit that game and port it over. Instead, just make a new game.

 

[Staples]

I would use it more if it didn't slow down so much on the games I want to replay. Halo Reach, for example, runs like poo on XOne so I just play on my 360.

I am surprised to hear this. Most games run faster frame rates as well as have v sync enabled and superior scaling.

 

[Deleted member 134608]

I am surprised to hear this. Most games run faster frame rates as well as have v sync enabled and superior scaling.

Hasn't been my experience. Then again, I am using a launch day Xbone and not an S. It would help a bit if I updated I think.