Microsoft’s reportedly working on an official Xbox emulator for PC

An official Xbox emulator may be in the works at Microsoft

According to Jez Gordon, an Xbox Insider, Microsoft is working on an official Xbox emulator for PC. This new emulator will address a common complaint about Microsoft’s recently released ROG Xbox Ally, which “can’t play actual Xbox games”. The new emulator is reportedly launching next year.

An Xbox emulator would allow PC gamers to play many classic Xbox titles that lack PC versions. However, this emulator will not work with all Xbox games, as licensing agreements are required to allow these classic games to run outside of their target platform. Licensing concerns were also a concern for Xbox’s backwards compatibility program for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Currently, it is unknown how restrictive Microsoft’s Xbox PC emulator will be. It will only be able to run games that Microsoft allows. It is unclear if PC gamers will be able to use original Xbox game disks or if digital copies of games will be required. Either way, it will bolster Microsoft’s PC presence and boost Xbox’s Game Pass library on PC.

Microsoft is also reportedly looking to expand its Xbox Play Anywhere program, giving gamers access to games on both Xbox and PC. If this is true, it will give gamers more reason to purchase games from Xbox. Xbox Play Anywhere makes games accessible on PC and Xbox. This is good news for Xbox gamers who also want to game on their laptops, PC handhelds, or desktop PCs. Microsoft is reportedly working to bring major AAA games into this program, including Hogwarts Legacy.

You can join the discussion on Microsoft’s rumoured Xbox PC emulator on the OC3D Forums.