Xenia team denies official “Xbox Classics” PC emulator claims
Xenia team denies claims that it is working with Xbox on an official emulator
Over the weekend, a YouTuber called eXta1s claimed that Microsoft was working on an official Xbox 360 “Classics” emulator for PC, Game Pass, and xCloud alongside the XENIA CANARY team. With Microsoft bringing Xbox and PC closer together with “Xbox PC“, it makes sense that Microsoft would be working on an Xbox emulator for PC, enabling backwards compatibility between PC and older Xbox systems. However, the Xenia team were quick to deny these rumours.
On the official Xenia Discord, a team member called ZoloKluk said, “It’s not real,” and that “Microsoft has their own Xbox 360 emulator, they’d never even consult Xenia.” Later, the developer added that “If it was real I’d be under an NDA.”
Xbox doesn’t need the Xenia team to make a PC emulator…
To put it simply, Team Xbox has extensive emulation expertise. Xbox Series X/S can play Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Original Xbox games. Better still, Microsoft can often play games from these systems with higher framerates and resolutions than their original incarnations. If Microsoft wants to play these games on PC, they don’t need to hire the Xenia emulation team to make it happen. Microsoft has extensive experience in this field. They can make it happen without any input from Xenia.
👀🔥 EXCLUSIVA eXtas1s ✅ï¸
XBOX y el equipo del emulador XENIA CANARY están trabajando JUNTOS en el marco del programa "Xbox Classics" (provisional).
La idea es llevar la RETRO de Xbox 360 y OG a PC, Game Pass y xCloud con mejoras.
DETALLES 👉 https://t.co/Us5Oa7R7IH pic.twitter.com/jFzKrCzDM3
— eXtas1s 🎮 Noticias & Rumores (@eXtas1stv) June 19, 2025
(The origins of Microsoft’s Xbox Classics emulator rumour)
Is Xbox emulation coming to PC? Probably…
If the future of Xbox is closely tied to PC, Xbox needs to solve its backwards compatibility problem. Today’s PCs cannot play Xbox games, but that may soon change. If Microsoft wants its Xbox PC plans to take off, it needs to give PC gamers a reason to invest in Xbox. One way to do that would be to launch an official “Xbox Classics” emulator that can play enhanced versions of classic Xbox games.
Microsoft’s rumoured “Xbox Classics” emulator could solve a lot of problems for Xbox. Xbox gamers can carry their game library to PC, and PC gamers can enjoy the Xbox Classics game library. That’s a win-win for PC and Xbox.
Microsoft doesn’t need the Xenia team to make this happen. They have enough expertise in-house to make this happen.
You can join the discussion on Microsoft’s rumoured “Xbox Classics” emulator on the OC3D Forums.
