Xbox Brings 21 Classic Games to PC as Wolfenstein 3 Is Confirmed

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has announced that 21 more original Xbox games are now playable on PC, bringing the platform’s backward-compatibility library to 25 titles as Microsoft celebrates its 25th anniversary. The latest additions include TimeSplitters 2, Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, and both Knights of the Old Republic games.

The announcement, shared by Sharma on X, is part of a renewed effort to preserve older Xbox releases and make them accessible across more devices. It’s also accompanied by a major statement about the future of game development, and officially confirmation that Wolfenstein 3 is in production.

21 More Original Xbox Games Come to PC

Xbox’s backward-compatibility initiative for PC launched in July 2026 with four original Xbox games: BLiNX: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live & Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and Fuzion Frenzy.

The November 12 expansion brings another 21 titles to the service, taking the total to 25. The new additions are:

• Armed and Dangerous
• Disney’s Chicken Little
• The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
• Grabbed by the Ghoulies
• Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb
• Red Faction II
• Secret Weapons Over Normandy
• Star Wars Battlefront
• Star Wars Battlefront II
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
• Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
• Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords
• Star Wars: Republic Commando
• Star Wars: Starfighter – Special Edition
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars
• Thrillville
• TimeSplitters 2
• TimeSplitters: Future Perfect

There are a few improvements accompanying the expansion, too. All 25 games now support mouse and keyboard controls, while the original four have received further performance and stability improvements. Xbox is also introducing achievements for the first time in four original Xbox games: Knights of the Old Republic, Knights of the Old Republic II, BLiNX: The Time Sweeper and Conker: Live & Reloaded. These achievements are available on PC and Xbox One and Series consoles, with some unlocking retroactively based on existing save progress.

It’s worth noting that this isn’t a collection of new remasters or Steam releases. Xbox is bringing its backward-compatibility technology to Windows, allowing players to revisit the original releases. Physical Xbox discs aren’t supported by the PC programme.

The initiative also fits into a wider industry conversation about game preservation. Community projects have been finding ways to make older console releases playable on contemporary hardware, as we explored in our coverage of SharpEmu running six PS5 games at 60 FPS on PC.

EA has also been making an effort to reopen its back catalogue to modern audiences, recently bringing 25 classic games to Steam, including Road Rash, Wing Commander and the Ultima series.

Asha Sharma’s 25th Anniversary Message Hints at an AI-Powered Future

While the classic games announcement is a welcome addition to Xbox’s preservation efforts, Sharma’s wider 25th anniversary message raises some interesting questions about where the platform is heading.

In her official Xbox anniversary statement, Sharma reflects on the company’s history, from Microsoft Adventure in 1979 to the launch of the original Xbox in 2001. However, it’s her comments on the next 25 years of gaming that have attracted considerable attention.

Sharma argues that the cost, resources and risks associated with modern game development have grown substantially, meaning too many ideas never make it into finished games. She suggests that emerging technologies could change that relationship, writing:

“A small team will be able to build worlds that today demand hundreds of developers and hundreds of millions of dollars.”

Although Sharma doesn’t explicitly mention generative AI in this anniversary message, the comments are difficult to separate from her recent discussions about the technology. In October, she established Xbox Labs, a small group of game developers, engineers and scientists tasked with exploring emerging technologies, particularly AI-assisted game creation, decompilation and recompilation. 

Sharma also pointed to the potential for AI agents to contribute to game development, noting that coding was their first major application because they can write, run and test software. Games share many of those same properties, potentially opening up new ways for developers and players to create and experiment.

This is an interesting direction for Xbox, particularly given the wider controversy surrounding generative AI in game development. Sharma has previously attempted to establish where Xbox stands. In her February statement upon becoming CEO, she explicitly said the company wouldn’t chase short-term efficiency or flood its ecosystem with what she called “soulless AI slop”. She also stressed that games would remain human-created art.

That makes her anniversary comments particularly interesting. The suggestion isn’t necessarily that smaller teams should replace developers with AI, but that new technology could give them access to capabilities previously restricted to large studios with enormous budgets. Whether that ultimately benefits independent creators or becomes another way for major publishers to reduce development costs remains an open question.

Wolfenstein 3 Officially Confirmed at MachineGames

Xbox’s 25th anniversary celebrations also delivered an announcement that should interest FPS fans: Wolfenstein 3 is officially in production at MachineGames. Sharma confirmed the news on November 12, sharing an image of the game’s script alongside her announcement that the studio was continuing one of gaming’s most important franchises.

MachineGames subsequently confirmed its involvement, stating that Brian Bloom and Debra Wilson will reprise their roles as BJ Blazkowicz and Grace Walker. Bloom previously voiced Blazkowicz in Wolfenstein: The New Order and The New Colossus, while Wilson portrayed Grace Walker in the latter. Their return suggests the new entry will continue the modern series’ established storyline, although there’s no word on a release date yet.

The Last Word on Xbox’s 25th Anniversary

Xbox’s 25th anniversary has delivered a welcome mixture of nostalgia and new developments. Bringing 21 more original Xbox games to PC is a meaningful step towards preserving the platform’s history, while the confirmation of Wolfenstein 3 gives fans another major franchise to look forward to.

Sharma’s comments about AI and the future of game development are perhaps the most interesting part of the celebrations, though. The technology could make ambitious projects more accessible to smaller teams, but Xbox will need to demonstrate that its promised future of human creativity and technological innovation can coexist. For now, at least, there’s plenty of gaming history to revisit while we wait to see what comes next.

Featured Image Credit

Image via xbox.com