Perhaps one of the more exciting announcements from the Xbox event from E3 2015 was the introduction of backwards compatibility of Xbox 360 games on the Xbox One. Now that the dust has settled, Larry Hryb took some time with Bill Stillwell from the Xbox team to talk about the upcoming feature in detail.
Although the coveted feature is not available to everyone just yet, Larry Hryb took some time to discuss its ins and outs. Interestingly, the Xbox team built a virtual Xbox 360 console within the Xbox One and will run games directly from that emulator. The Xbox 360 emulator will feature a full 360 guide that will give you access to matchmaking, chat, friends and achievements. At the same time, Xbox One users will be able to take advantage of the Xbox One"s recording features taking video and screen captures.
Stillwell goes into detail stating that games that were digitally downloaded will automatically be pulled through to the Xbox One and physical Xbox 360 games will be downloaded directly to the Xbox One hard drive and be emulated. Naturally, there are limitations to the emulator with Stillwell stating that it cannot handle peripherals via USB or the original Kinect.
The backwards compatibility feature is currently available for "Preview Members" with an expected general release later this year. When it launches for the general public, there will be 100 titles available with more to be added over time.
Source: Xbox