Dark Souls Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Officially Confirmed

Microsoft has announced the original Dark Souls will be available to play on Xbox One through backwards compatibility, officially confirming a leak from February 15.

As the leak detailed, the game will also be available for free to those that digital pre-order Dark Souls 3 on the console. This pre-order bonus is available "for a limited time."

It is unclear whether the free copy of Dark Souls given to pre-order customers is just the base game, or if it includes the Artorias of the Abyss DLC.

Dark Souls 3 launches on April 12 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki previously indicated he wants to wrap up the Souls saga with this game.

Having been promoted to chief executive of From Software, Miyazaki said he believes the studio needs to aggressively pursue new ideas. You can read GameSpot's full Dark Souls 3 interview with Miyazaki here.

On February 6, Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption became available to download and play on Xbox One, indicating it would be officially added to the backwards compatibility library. Microsoft quickly removed the ability to acquire the game and said it was mistakenly made available.

"Microsoft tests all Xbox 360 games with our [backwards compatibility] emulator to ensure a quality experience across a breadth of titles," said Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb. "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."

With Dark Souls now having been confirmed, a Red Dead Redemption announcement may be on the way soon too.