Microsoft Shares Updated 'Xbox Play Anywhere' Games List As It Unifies Console & PC

Outstanding. The whole "This is an Xbox" will massively come together as bits and pieces get added to the overall picture - and things like these handhelds and unified experiences come together. It's really going to be a phenomenal platform full of choices over the course of the next year or two - and with Xbox Play Anywhere allowing for seamless transition - with play and saves cross supported - it's gunna be fluid as hell!

Xbox Play Anywhere is certainly worth more attention. Great concept.

I'm surprised Rare Replay isn't Play Anywhere.

@Kaloudz There were a few XB1 1st party games that didn't get a PC port like Rare Replay and Halo 5.

Lmao Microsoft can bulk-up figures all they want, doesn’t change the fact that only 7% of all Xbox games released last year support Play Anywhere, plus there’s lots of Microsoft owned games that aren’t supported, Halo MCC, Halo 5, Doom, Doom Eternal, Gears 1 Ultimate, Forza Horizon 3, Sunset Overdrive, Quantum Break, Ori 1, Fallout 4, Skyrim and many others, just to name a few.

All this sudden push for Play Anywhere seems weird since the program exists since 2016, if I had to speculate I’d say they are preparing us to be told that moving forward only Play Anywhere titles will be compatible with the next console as it’ll be a PC in essence, I hope I’m wrong but I have zero confidence in Microsoft at the moment.

@IOI Exactly this. Xbox used to be my platform of choice for multiplatform. However, since last year that changed and I haven't bought a single title for Xbox. Only use it for my GamePass subscription and library, but all my new software purchase are done on my PS5 Pro. Alan Wake 2 was my last purchased Xbox game. Sad, as Xbox was my preferred platform for years.

@Grumblevolcano Did they ever announce why?

@IOI i mean this seems like great value being focused on to the ecosystem to me. Not seeing it as a negative. The next Xbox isn’t going to say you can’t play GTA 6 cause it don’t support play anywhere. But i mean hey if this don’t float your boat, there is always the news on the other website that will hype you on Day’s Gone remaster and even convince you that you can see a difference. Maybe that’s more your cup of tea of news?

1000 games sounds like a lot but relative to the overall size of the Xbox library it’s really not. I just bought Split Fiction for example and didn’t get a PC copy (though side note: the cross-platform friend pass feature is awesome!). It’s still way too reliant on Game Pass, outside of the subscription catalogue support is rare.

Luckily with the recent rumours that the next Xbox will still be backwards compatible with the current console library my fears have been mostly assuaged for now (as long as this still ends up being the case when it actually releases).

@Kaloudz No but my guess in the case of Rare Replay would be that it's something to do with how they integrated the backwards compatibility program into the collection.

Selecting the 3 Banjo games, 2 Perfect Dark games, 2 Viva Pinata games, Jetpac Refuelled and Kameo in Rare Replay loads up the 360 backwards compatible versions.

You know, if I could link my Steam account to my Xbox account and get 'Xbox Play Anywhere' access to the games I've already purchased on Steam that would be great.

We need cross-buy for all platforms. Greed is the reason why we don't.

@Grumblevolcano Ah yeah you're probably right. That's a shame. It'd be nice to eventually have every MS game (first party) Play Anywhere.

@RZ-Atom if microsoft was allowed to buy steam we would have had that feature

@HonestHick Funny you mention GTA 6 because that could be a perfect example of the brewing problem, if it ain’t Play Anywhere and next Xbox indeed only supports PC games you won’t be able to play it on your new console even if you own it.
Again, there’s too much unknowns and I’m just speculating and choosing not to trust Microsoft, growing Play Anywhere isn’t negative but to come out swinging now with “it’s all fine, look at all these Play Anywhere games”, it’s hypocrite when it ain’t even near a quarter of the Xbox library nor their own first-party games.

What continues to bother me and why I keep venting is how little care they show for the console audience if at all, it’s now very clear they’re pivoting to PC as they feel they lost the console market (by not even stocking Series X|S consoles now) but I don’t have a PC, I own an Xbox console, which is the only Xbox there is as much as Microsoft loves to say otherwise, and we’re being left behind, if you think complaining about that somehow makes me a PlayStation fanboy you may want to rethink who the fanboy is.

@IOI Yeah I'm getting that feeling as well, especially since their new handheld they've been talking about will only be compatible with play anywhere. The future of Xbox consoles isn't looking good.

I've been wondering for years where Minecraft Dungeons, Fallout 4, Skyrim, etc... are. These are games that are technically first party now, so where's the Play Anywhere? I'm not double-dipping on Dungeons.

@IOI didn’t day you were a Sony Fanboy, just saying it’s not as if there is this ton of exciting news over there. Remasters of games that look the same. I’ll pass. As for MS and Xbox. Of course i agree with you there are a lot of unknowns at the moment as to what the full pic looks like. But going for what Phil has said and rumors have shown. It’s starting to come together. Xbox is a ecoystem with more than just console, we all know that now. But i do think as PC continues to grow, in fact outselling Console software at the moment. It’s smart for MS to make this pivot. 20 years of just being a console and having only real success sales and mindshare wise with the 360. Now they can ensure all their studios have a baseline spec to code for and that will be the Xbox PC/Console hybrid. Then they can scale from there. So thats a win for the devs. Also until we learn more about what the next console is we don’t know how cool or lame it is. But one thing is already for sure Phil and Sara have said your games on console go with you and we look to preserve Xbox OG titles to the current day Xbox. That includes GTA 6. Xbox has crushed Nintendo and Sony in BC. It’s the one shining link in the armor of Xbox. They aren’t going to launch a console that only plays PC games. I mean speculating that is just not following the bread crumbs of info we have. NOTHING LINKS to that. It’s a spread of fear for no reason. You are entitled to your opinions and where and how you spend your money, i ain’t trying to push you in any direction on that. But we have to wait and see what this new look Xbox looks like. They are taking a Nintendo approach if you will and that is doing something more out of the traditional sense to give themselves mindshare in a market Sony is the house hold name. Even if PS5 5 years in is getting more remasters and canceled games then they are anything worth bragging about. If they blow it most of us leave. But it won’t be cause they kill your library of bought games over 2 years. They have said that repeatedly that those are coming forward.

Since it seems the future is going in the digital only direction for software, it would be nice and make the most sense if when we buy a piece of software, that it would come with a universal license for all platforms that it is available on as well as any platform that it may be available on in the future. You just purchase the game and you automatically have a license for whatever device or ecosystem you choose to play it on.

Only 7% of games released on Xbox in 2024 were Play Anywhere. Outside of Microsoft's own stuff, almost no big 3rd party supports it.
If you look at the list of 1000 games, most of it is mobile games or shovelware.

This is great and headed in the right direction! Pretty sure like 60% of these are shovelware garbage so hoping for more big purchases to transfer! Was so bummed when I got the ROG and like only 6-8 of my 100+ titles were available. Glad to see improvement here!

I couldn't find none of the Fallout games on that list. I'm surprised they haven't been added.

Does this have anything to do with final fantasy v and vi both getting updates today?

A step forward in the right direction, but still a hell of lot of work ahead. Only a very small handful of my PC/Xbox titles work across both systems. Not quite the "win" Microsoft are trying to present here.

1000 games really of the 400 games i own on xbox 16 are play anywhere lol

Increased my Play Anywhere games from 4 to 7

I was shocked not to see Skyrim on the list. ZeniMax has been owned by Microsoft for several years now and as a first party title it is still widely played and has thousands of mods. I expect Skyrim to make it into the "play anywhere" list.