For over 16 years the Xbox brand has been providing players a platform to experience a multitude of stories through gaming. They may not be the oldest gaming company but they’ve proven time and time again that they’re able to hold up against the biggest names in the business. The Xbox One backwards compatibility program allows fans to return to the games they loved once more even on the current generation of consoles. In fact, there are nearly 500 titles in the program, including the original system.

Mike Nichols, CMO for Gaming at Microsoft, recently released a post on the company’s behalf looking back at the road leading up to this year’s E3. The post thanks fans for the beginning of a record breaking year, stating that players have raised the bar by joining in on Xbox Live, forming friendships, play time within different titles, and engaging each other in creative new ways. Nichols also gave mention that the Xbox One backwards compatibility program has reached a new milestone in which players have spent over 1 billion hours replaying old favourites.

We’re seeing tremendous engagement of mega-hits like Fortnite and Far Cry 5, both of which play best in 4K Ultra HD on Xbox One X, joining the more than 200 games that now feature Xbox One X enhancements. But we’re also seeing fantastic engagement with Xbox One console exclusives like Sea of Thieves, the fastest-selling Microsoft Studios new IP of this console generation, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, whose new desert-themed map is now available to play on a dedicated test server ahead of its launch in Xbox Game Preview later in May. We also reached a couple milestones recently with players having enjoyed over 4 billion hours on games released through our ID@Xbox program and nearly 1 billion hours on games in our Xbox One Backward Compatibility library.”

The Xbox One backwards compatibility program continues to grow as a viable platform for playing classic titles even to the point of updating a few of them for even better performance. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. for example. recently saw a massive overhaul which brought to the title some impressive changes which fixed many of the issues that hindered the game’s original performance.

What do you think Microsoft has in store for their “biggest E3 yet?” Let us know your thoughts on the Xbox One backwards compatibility program and more in the comments section below. As always, don’t forget to follow Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter for 24/7 coverage of all things gaming and entertainment.