Leaked memo suggests Project Helix could play games from all four Xbox generations—if publishers opt in.
That means original Xbox titles from 2001, Xbox 360 games, Xbox One and Xbox Series releases, plus whatever ships natively on Helix—one library spanning 25 years of hardware. Microsoft’s own track record is a caution too: between 2015 and 2021 it made roughly a quarter of the 360 catalogue backward compatible, and around 6 percent of the original Xbox library.
Microsoft’s next-generation console, codenamed Project Helix, is being built to run games from all four Xbox generations, according to a leaked memo obtained by The Verge’s Tom Warren. The document is addressed to publishers and reads like a sales pitch, with a section headed “Why publishers win” that leans on the idea of dormant catalogue titles becoming purchasable products again. The catch is that almost none of it happens automatically. Publishers opt in game by game, set their own pricing, and decide whether a title lands on Game Pass or stays a standalone purchase. Microsoft handles the engineering, certification and support work in return. Helix may not ship with a disc drive at all.