One 360 Franchise is Completely Dominating Xbox’s New Backward Compatibility Leaderboard

Xbox is once again testing the backward compatibility waters, and it’s asking the public’s help to determine which games it should focus on. Xbox added original Xbox and Xbox 360 backward compatibility to the Xbox One in what was one of the console’s biggest updates, with those classic games carrying forward to Xbox Series X/S.

Unfortunately for fans of old-school Xbox and Xbox 360 games, Xbox stopped adding new backward compatibility games in 2021. However, as part of a way to celebrate Xbox’s 25th anniversary, the company announced plans to bring back its backward compatibility and game preservation initiative. It’s also given Xbox fans the chance to vote on which games they want to see added to backward compatibility, and now, with thousands of votes counted, we have a solid top 10 most-wanted games. Those that have yet to upgrade from Xbox One to newer hardware should note that the Xbox game preservation site specifically names Xbox Series X/S and the upcoming Project Helix console as targeted hardware.

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Most-Wanted Xbox BC Games

Transformers: War for Cybertron
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
The Simpsons: Hit & Run
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Transformers: Devastation
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: The Game
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions
Jet Set Radio Future

The top 10 most-wanted Xbox game preservation games is being completely dominated by the Xbox 360 Transformers games, with fans wanting to see War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron the most. Third place goes to The Simpsons: Hit & Run, a GTA-style Simpsons game that remains one of the most-wanted video game remakes/remasters, while fourth place goes to the popular Xbox 360 launch title Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

Besides Transformers games, the top 10 also includes Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and Jet Set Radio Future. So out of the top 10 most wanted games, a whopping eight are taken up by licensed titles, with six of those eight being Transformers games. Most of the games are also Xbox 360 titles, with The Simpsons: Hit & Run and Jet Set Radio Future being the lone OG Xbox exceptions.

Now, it should be stressed that there is no guarantee that any of these games will be added to the backward compatibility program, so Xbox fans should keep that in mind. It’s also possible that, instead of being added to Xbox BC, some of these games will be remade or remastered. After all, there is clear fan demand for a Simpsons: Hit & Run remake or remaster, so adding that game to backward compatibility might be leaving money on the table.

Licensing issues will likely be the biggest roadblock to seeing some of these games added to backward compatibility. Activision published Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, but no longer has the rights to the franchise, for example, and Need for Speed: Most Wanted has a soundtrack full of licensed songs. Still, it’s interesting to see what kind of games Xbox fans want added to the backward compatibility/game preservation program, and one has to wonder how the voting will potentially impact the next wave of titles that are added to the lineup.