Mere hours after Microsoft launched its Xbox Backward Compatibility on PC initiative, dataminers have uncovered evidence suggesting the underlying emulator is capable of running Xbox 360 titles. Initial analysis indicates that the emulator is not a direct Xbox emulator, but rather an Xbox 360 emulator that utilizes Xefu, the same system used by Xbox 360 hardware to emulate original Xbox games. This implies a layered emulation approach, essentially an emulator within an emulator.
This discovery was first reported by dataminer Lunarixus on X, who speculated that this architecture confirms the future backward compatibility of Xbox 360 games on PC. Further investigation by the team behind the XWine1 translation layer project has reportedly managed to run both original Xbox and Xbox 360 game ROMs on Microsoft's PC emulator, though with "varying degrees of success."
While the inconsistent success rates present a significant hurdle, the findings strongly suggest the emulator's capacity for running Xbox 360 games, even though Microsoft has thus far only officially released a handful of original Xbox titles through the PC service. The underlying technology appears to be a combination of Microsoft's recently released PC port of XeO3 and specific components from XWine1, allowing for the execution of dumped backward-compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games prior to any official release.
This development, while not entirely unexpected given the technological progression, confirms suspicions that Microsoft's new PC emulator was designed with future Xbox 360 support in mind. It also raises hopes that some Xbox 360 classics, such as Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, which are not officially available on other platforms, may eventually see broader accessibility on PC. The prospect of titles like Fable 2 becoming more playable before the anticipated Fable reboot next year is also a notable potential benefit.