Apart from the cloud and continuous software updates, Xbox One backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games is a unique way Microsoft is setting their console apart from the competition. According to the NPD, it’s already making a difference at retail. NPD analyst Liam Callahan suggests that Xbox 360 game sales were abnormally strong this past month due to the announcement of backwards compatibility.
He said, “On a unit basis, Xbox 360 was the second-highest selling platform for new physical software sales…Besides, this was a light month for launches that typically favor the new platforms. One reason for the stronger Xbox 360 sales may have been the news of backwards compatibility for the Xbox One coming out of E3.” July was the first full month after Microsoft announced it was bringing Xbox 360 backwards compatibility to the Xbox One. The feature is currently only available to Xbox One Preview members. Everyone else will get the ability in November with more than a hundred compatible games. Microsoft plans to add hundreds of other Xbox 360 games to the Xbox One library each month after that.
Callahan added that this means Xbox One owners are going to retail locations to pick up some Xbox 360 titles to enjoy on their newer hardware down the line. At the same time, Xbox 360 owners who are preparing to make the leap to the Xbox One might also feel better about buying games for their old consoles. These two factors contributed to the increased Xbox 360 game sales last month.
Source: VentureBeat
Asher is a games journalist, former News Writer (Gaming) at Windows Central. They contributed 1110 articles to ICXM between 2015–2017, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: wrote over 1,100 ICXM pieces on Xbox news, hardware reviews, and platform commentary before joining Future plc’s Windows Central in 2017.