Xbox players are finding original Xbox games in their achievement histories, listed at 0 of 0, and reading it as groundwork for the feature Microsoft promised in the summer. A thread on the Xbox subreddit collecting the sightings reached 328 upvotes on Monday, with players naming titles such as Black, Ninja Gaiden Black and Morrowind appearing on their profiles after they launched them through backward compatibility. One player says they noticed the same thing a week ago.
Original Xbox games have never had achievements. The system arrived with the Xbox 360 in 2005, and Microsoft’s own backward compatibility page still says original Xbox titles do not support it. That changed on paper on July 22, when Microsoft launched Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC and wrote that “later this year we will be bringing one of the top fan-requested features to select original XBOX games,” on console as well as PC. The first four PC titles, Blinx: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and Fuzion Frenzy, “will be updated to include Achievements in the coming months.”
The 25th anniversary is November 15, and Microsoft has said nothing yet
The empty entries are consistent with Microsoft registering achievement lists for games before the achievements themselves go live, which is how new titles usually show up. They are not confirmation of anything. Microsoft has not announced a date, has not said which games beyond the first four are included, and has not commented on the sightings. The one date on the calendar is November 15, when the original Xbox turns 25, and the guess in the thread is that the rollout is being lined up for it. That is speculation on the players’ part, not a plan Microsoft has shared.
The wish list in the thread is predictable and heartfelt: both Knights of the Old Republic games, Jade Empire and Halo. KOTOR and Jade Empire are BioWare games, which gives the thread an extra edge a week after EA closed the studio. Whatever Microsoft ships, it has a list of games that a lot of people kept their saves for.
