Xbox One Will Not Offer Backwards Compatibility for Xbox 360 Games

If you were hoping to be able to play your Xbox 360 games on the Xbox One, you are out of luck.  The Verge has just learned that Microsoft has no plans to offer backwards compatibility with the Xbox One.  Microsoft Xbox Live VP Marc Whitten confirmed that the new Xbox One console will have no backwards compatibility whatsoever.

“No, there’s not,” said Whitten, when we asked the question. “The system is based on a different core architecture, so back-compat doesn’t really work from that perspective.”

At today’s announcement, Microsoft confirmed that the new Xbox would use an x86 CPU. And because the Xbox 360 uses a Xenon processor based on PowerPC architecture, games designed for the older console, simply won’t run natively on the new hardware.

Sony is also facing a similar issue with the PS4, however, it has promised gamers that they will eventually be able to play older games on the new PS4 console via streaming. Meanwhile, Microsoft has no plans for such an offering, however, they do plan to keep selling the Xbox 360 alongside the new console for the foreseeable future. “This isn’t about getting rid of the Xbox 360,” Whitten said.

How do you feel about this news?  Were you hoping to be able to play 360 games on the Xbox One?