Here's How Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Works

With just days to go before backwards compatibility support for Xbox 360 titles arrives on Xbox One, Microsoft has published a new overview video that explains how it works. The video, featuring Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb and FLitz from Smosh Games, covers just about everything you'd want to know.

When the New Xbox One Experience dashboard update arrives on November 12, you'll find a tab that shows all your backwards-compatible Xbox 360 titles that you downloaded digitally. To play physical games, however, you'll need to put the disc in the drive every time you want to play.

In addition, your Xbox 360 saves will carry forward (provided you saved them to the cloud), while all the DLC you bought for the last-generation console will also show up. On top of that, since the Xbox 360 games are technically running on Xbox One, they also support screenshots and GameDVR.

The full list of the 100-plus Xbox 360 titles that will be playable on Xbox One through backwards compatibility will be announced this coming Monday, November 9.

For more on the New Xbox One Experience, check out this other video overview.

Microsoft has high hopes for Xbox One backwards compatibility. Xbox executive Aaron Greenberg says this new feature will help the Xbox One stand out against rival platforms such as the PlayStation 4.

"I think it'll be tremendous. It's another differentiator for us," he said. "We're going to be the only next-gen console delivering backwards compatibility."

He added that backwards compatibility, along with Microsoft's game lineup, will lead to a "massive migration" this holiday of Xbox 360 users moving over to Xbox One.