There was a bit of a kerfuffle over the weekend that had nothing to do with football. A few Xbox One users had discovered backwards compatibility support for several Xbox 360 games over the weekend, including Red Dead Redemption, and the gaming corner of the internet subsequently freaked out a little (via IGN).
Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Larry Hryb (or Major Nelson), Xbox Live’s Director of Programming, took to Reddit and Twitter that these listings were an error.
“Microsoft tests all Xbox 360 games with our emulator to ensure a quality experience across a breadth of titles. Due to an error, some of the games currently in test were accidentally made available. We have since removed access to those games, and apologize for any confusion this may have caused. We will have more information on upcoming releases soon.”
Some may be asking what the clamor was all about and why a major executive at Microsoft would have to comment on it. Red Dead Redemption, considered one of the greatest games of the Xbox 360/PS3 generation, is one of the only major Rockstar games not available for PC. There is also no remaster for current consoles.
The game is still very popular, and holds the admiration of many gamers, who would love the opportunity to play the game on their current-gen console with all the bells and whistles the Xbox One has to offer. Red Dead Redemption initially tallied up the leading number of votes as the most-requested Xbox 360 game to be made backwards compatible for Xbox One. Right now, it’s sitting in third behind only Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Skyrim.
Microsoft’s backwards compatibility feature was one of the most popular announcements of last year’s E3. In November, the company released the update along with over 100 games immediately playable (if players still had their discs). The company has been steadily making a few last-gen games available per month.
For now, it looks like Red Dead Redemption fans will have to hold on to their 360s if they still want to play the game.
