Xbox silently rolls out game-changing OG hardware update

Xbox is quietly rolling out a new feature for users playing original Xbox games on the current-gen consoles.

Achievements have been a core component of the Xbox platform for over twenty years, with players using it to proudly show off their greatest gaming accomplishments.

Having gone through a few changes earlier this year with the addition of Mythic achievements, Xbox fans have now noticed another change that may be incoming.

Original Xbox games could be getting achievements very soon

As shared on social media sites such as Reddit and X (formerly Twitter), fans have spotted that Xbox appears to be adding achievements to older games that are backwards compatible on current-gen systems.

An image being shared around shows an Xbox user's game library, with Black and Ninja Gaiden Black shown with 0/0 achievements and 0 gamerscore.

On Reddit, other users have confirmed the change, with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind also named as a title showing up with the change.

Xbox announced that more games would be coming to the backwards compatibility program, this time specifically targeting original Xbox and Xbox 360 games on PC, with BLiNX: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, and Fuzion Frenzy being the first titles supported.

In the same breath, Xbox also announced that these games would be getting achievement support in a future update across both PC and console. It seems that this may be laying the groundwork for the future update for original Xbox games to receive achievements.

Considering that Morrowind, Black, and Ninja Gaiden Black aren't included in the initial wave of backwards compatibility titles on PC, this could also hint at games that may be made available in a future update.

However, be sure to take this with some scepticism. Ninja Gaiden Black and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind are already available on PC, so the only game here that could actually see backwards compatibility for a PC port is Black, which was exclusive to PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

These backwards compatibility titles are different from the recent wave of recompilations that fans have been doing for console exclusive games. Where the unofficial ports are adding in new features like mod support, keyboard and mouse controls, and higher framerates, Xbox is running these via an emulator meaning you need to use a controller, and you also can't improve the performance beyond what was in the original game. However, there are a few options to change certain graphical features which aren't available on console.

Since emulation is not the same as recompilation, these two types of PC ports essentially involve entirely different processes.

For now, we'll wait and see what Xbox confirms regarding this new feature. The original Xbox's 25th anniversary will occur on November 15, 2026, and the company's plans for backwards compatibility could be revealed then.