Xbox Exec encourages fans to make backwards compatible requests.

If there's one thing the Xbox has in its back pocket besides bringing back Xbox-exclusive titles, it's the return of its backward compatibility program. The popular initiative that made hundreds of original Xbox and Xbox 360 games playable on the latest hardware died in 2021 before being resurrected this year for Xbox's 25th anniversary.

“As part of our 25th anniversary later this year, [the game preservation team] Now we’re releasing iconic games from the past that you can play in a whole new way,” says Jason Ronald.

Now, Jason Ronald, Xbox's Vice President of Next Generation and who has announced that the backward compatibility program is being revived, is directing Xbox fans to a fan-run website where they can make BC's wishes known.

As Pure Xbox noted in their piece, this is the first time in years that Xbox staff have fully solicited community requests for backwards compatible titles. This also means that the Xbox folks are aware of fan-run websites and requests from fans.

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There's no word yet on whether this will lead to the addition of more backwards compatible games, but it's as good an indicator as any that the program hasn't gone away entirely.

Transformers leads the BC leaderboard.

When TheGamer first reported the existence of XboxGamePreservation.com last March, the site's owner noted that more than 3,000 unique visitors had visited the site, with 335 voters and 2,483 votes cast.

The most requested Backwards Compatible title at the time was The Simpsons: Hit and Run, with Silent Hill 4, Burnout 3, Silent Hill 2, and Jet Set Radio rounding out the rest of the top five.

Fast forward to today and all of those titles have been overtaken by Transformers. The top 10 on the leaderboard are:

Transformers: War for Cybertron
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Transformers: Destruction
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: The Game
Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark
jet set radio future
Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
Skylanders: Giants

Given that Microsoft now fully owns Activision, which is responsible for all of these Transformers titles, fans seem to think this is the most feasible. And the fact that Cybertron Duology is a great game.

A total of 2,384 games received at least one vote, and it will be interesting to see which list Microsoft ultimately pulls from.