How to play original Xbox games on PC: what you need, what it costs, what is missing

How to play original Xbox games on PC: the short answer

To play original Xbox games on PC, you need a Windows 11 machine, the Xbox app and a download of each game you want. Whether you pay depends on the title: Xbox Wire says a "game purchase or Game Pass subscription may be required," and the program is available in supported countries only. As of November 12, 2026, 25 original Xbox games are supported.

This is not an emulator you set up yourself. It is an official Xbox program called Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC, which launched in early release on July 22, 2026 and grew sharply on November 12. If you want the news version, read our report on the 21 games added that day; this guide is the how-to.

What your PC needs: the published requirements

The hardware list comes from the July launch coverage, so treat it as the baseline for the first four games and check each store page for newer ones. VGC lists a minimum of an Nvidia GTX 950, AMD Radeon RX 550, Intel UHD 770 or Intel Arc A310 for graphics, a four-core CPU such as an Intel Core i3-8100 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200, 8GB of RAM and Windows 11 with graphics drivers from January 2026 or later.

The recommended tier is steeper: a 6-core, 12-thread CPU such as an Intel Core i5-10400 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600, a GPU in the class of a GTX 1070 Ti or Intel Arc A770, 8GB of VRAM and DirectX 12 with Hardware Feature Level 11. These are modest numbers. A budget desktop from the last several years clears the minimum, and the recommended tier is the sort of hardware that handles 4x internal resolution scaling.

Windows 11 is the one hard line. Xbox Wire's November post names it explicitly, so a Windows 10 machine is out.

Where the games come from: buying, Game Pass and old licences

There are three routes. You can buy a game from its xbox.com store page, which the November post links for every title. You can subscribe to Game Pass, which VGC says includes the four launch games in every tier, and Xbox Wire marks Morrowind and Grabbed by the Ghoulies as also with Game Pass. Or, if you already own a digital copy on console, LevelUp reports that a digital console license works on PC too.

Treat that third route carefully. LevelUp is the only source we opened that says it, and Xbox Wire's November post talks only about purchase or Game Pass. Check the store page before assuming your existing library carries over. Likewise, none of the sources we opened say that original discs or Xbox 360 games work, so assume they do not: the program covers original Xbox games bought or subscribed to digitally.

Prices are not listed in the November post, so nobody can tell you the cost of the whole set yet. That is the biggest unknown for a Star Wars fan, since eleven of the 21 newest games are Star Wars titles.

The 25 games supported today

The original four are BLiNX: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and Fuzion Frenzy, all in Game Pass per Xbox Wire. The 21 added on November 12 are Armed and Dangerous; Disney's Chicken Little; The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind; Grabbed by the Ghoulies; Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb; Red Faction II; Secret Weapons Over Normandy; Thrillville; TimeSplitters 2; and TimeSplitters: Future Perfect.

The Star Wars block is Battlefront, Battlefront II, Revenge of the Sith, Jedi Academy, Jedi Outcast, Jedi Starfighter, Knights of the Old Republic, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Republic Commando, Starfighter: Special Edition and The Clone Wars. Xbox says "We are going to bring even more original XBOX games to PC in the future," without naming any.

What you get on PC: scaling, controls, achievements and handhelds

VGC's July report listed PC-side options for the launch titles: up to 4x internal resolution scaling, V-Sync, texture filtering and anti-aliasing. Xbox Wire's November post adds that the first four games now support mouse and keyboard, with better performance and stability. It does not say every new game gets the same options, so look at the store page for the specific title.

Achievements are the new feature. As VGC put it in July, "Original Xbox games have never had achievements." As of November 12, four games have them: both Knights of the Old Republic games, BLiNX and Conker. The achievements also appear on Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles, and some may unlock from progress you have already made.

On handhelds, Xbox says the first four games came to PC including on devices such as the ROG Xbox Ally family, and VGC names the ROG Xbox Ally as supported. Our best gaming handheld guide covers the wider hardware picture; this catalog is a bonus, not a reason on its own to buy one.

A step-by-step checklist to get a game running

First, confirm you are on Windows 11 and that your graphics drivers are the January 2026 release or newer, which VGC lists as the driver requirement. Second, check xbox.com/game-compatibility, the page Xbox Wire points to, for the current state of the program in your country, because availability is limited to supported countries.

Third, open the game's xbox.com store page, which Xbox Wire links for each of the 25 titles, and see whether it is included with Game Pass or needs buying. Fourth, install through the Xbox app, which LevelUp names as the way to play on a compatible Windows PC or supported handheld, then launch and check the graphics options. If you want achievements, pick one of the four that have them.

Which games to start with if you already have Game Pass

The cheapest way in is the titles tagged with Game Pass. That is the four launch games, BLiNX: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and Fuzion Frenzy, plus Morrowind and Grabbed by the Ghoulies, per Xbox Wire's November list. Six of the 25, in other words, are covered by a subscription.

Of those six, Conker and BLiNX also carry achievements, which makes them the most complete PC versions today. Morrowind is the odd one out: a very large role-playing game with no achievements yet, but the most content for the money if you already pay for Game Pass.

Limits and caveats before you spend money

Four limits stand out. First, the library is 25 games, a small part of the original Xbox catalog. Second, availability is by supported country only, and the post does not list which. Third, no prices were published in the November post. Fourth, the platform is described as early release in July, and Xbox has not said that status has ended.

Also check mouse support and achievement status per game, because the November post confirms those only for specific titles. A reasonable approach is to start with the Game Pass titles, which cost you nothing extra if you already subscribe, and buy the rest one at a time.

Our take: who should bother

If you have a Windows 11 PC from the last several years and a soft spot for Knights of the Old Republic, Morrowind or TimeSplitters, this is the easiest official way to play them, and the requirements are low. If you do not use the Xbox app or you want the entire original Xbox library, hold off until the next batch.

Check the Xbox app or xbox.com/game-compatibility for the current state before you buy, because the library went from four games to 25 in under four months.