If there's one thing that Xbox has in its back pocket, aside from re-committing to Xbox-exclusive titles, it's the return of the Backwards Compatibility program. The popular initiative, which made hundreds of Original Xbox and Xbox 360 games playable on modern hardware, went away in 2021, only to be revived this year for Xbox's larger 25th anniversary.

"As part of our 25th anniversary later this year, [the game preservation team] will release some iconic games from the past that are now going to be able to be played in entirely new ways," says Jason Ronald 👀 — Tom Warren (@tomwarren.co.uk) 2026-03-11T17:45:53.150Z

Now, Jason Ronald, the VP of Next Generation at Xbox, and the one who made the announcement that the Backwards Compatibility program is being revived, is directing Xbox fans to a fan-run website, where they can make their BC wishes known.

As Pure Xbox noted in its write-up, it's the first instance in several years that an Xbox employee has outright solicited requests from the community for Backwards Compatible titles. It also means that people at Xbox are aware of the fan-run website and the requests that are being made by fans.

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Whether this leads to more Backwards Compatible games being added remains to be seen, but it's as good of any indicator as any that the program hasn't fully gone away.

Transformers Leads The Charge On The BC Leaderboards

Back in March, when TheGamer first reported of the existence of XboxGamePreservation.com, the site's owner had noted over 3,000 unique visitors had come to the site, of which 335 voters and 2,483 votes were cast.

At the time, the most-requested Backwards Compatible title was The Simpsons: Hit and Run, with Silent Hill 4, Burnout 3, Silent Hill 2 and Jet Set Radio making up the rest of the Top 5.

Flash forward to today, and all those titles have been overtaken by Transformers. The Top 10 of the leaderboard are as follows:

  1. Transformers: War for Cybertron
  2. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
  3. Transformers: Devastation
  4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
  5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
  6. Transformers: The Game
  7. Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark
  8. Jet Set Radio Future
  9. Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
  10. Skylanders: Giants

Given that Microsoft now outright owns Activision, who were responsible for all of these Transformers titles, it seems like fans are of the mind that these would be the most feasible. That, and the fact that Cybertron duology were excellent games.

A total of 2,384 games have received at least one vote, and it'll be fascinating to see which of the list Microsoft ultimately pulls from, if any of them at all.

Third-Person Shooter
Adventure
Systems
Released
June 22, 2010
ESRB
Teen
Developer(s)
High Moon Studios
Publisher(s)
High Moon Studios
Engine
Unreal Engine 3
transformers-war-for-cybertron-press-image-1.jpg

WHERE TO PLAY

PHYSICAL

Genre(s)
Third-Person Shooter, Adventure
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