Microsoft has just released backward compatibility for Xbox One and hence, over a hundred games that used to be exclusive for Xbox 360 can now be played on the newer version. However, some major titles are still yet to be covered by backward compatibility. Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto titles and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim are still stuck on Xbox 360.
A lot of game fans have been waiting for Xbox One's backward compatibility. However, a lot were also dismayed when the mentioned titles, along with some games that are mostly Rockstar Games titles, weren't included in the release. It was puzzling why some games got covered and others didn't. Fortunately, Richard Irving of the Xbox engineering team has disclosed the circumstances that are preventing the games from getting covered by the new breakthrough.
"After the technological breakthrough that got backwards compatibility working, the next step was to figure out how to license all this content, originally released on Xbox 360, for Xbox One," Irving tells Eurogamer. "For example Madden — you can imagine how many licenses go into a game with the players, the NFL, sponsors and so on."
Irving went on to specify that Xbox currently lists more than a thousand games under its banner. Thus, it would be tedious, to say the least, for its partners to have each of the Xbox 360 titles licenced. The company's solution was to let the fans decide on which ones should be on the priority list. Granted that the game is on the list, the Xbox team will then take the initiative and ask the publishers if they can secure the needed licenses for backward compatibility.
"Publishers are super engaged and responsive to that stuff," the Xbox engineer comments.
Furthermore, Irving noted that some titles just take longer to organize than others and that was the main reason why the Xbox team couldn't manage to get all of the major games under backward compatibility. At the moment, 104 Xbox 360 titles can be played on Xbox One.
