Speaking to The Verge earlier today, Microsoft Xbox Live VP Marc Whitten confirmed that the Xbox One will be unable to play the games of its predecessor, the Xbox 360.
“The system is based on a different core architecture, so back-compat doesn’t really work from that perspective.”
This is similar to the PlayStation 4, which will also be unable to play the games from the PlayStation 3 library, including all downloadable titles. Unlike Sony, however, who may allow players to stream PlayStation 3 titles via the cloud in the future, Microsoft doesn’t seem to be looking for a way for Xbox One owners to play older titles.
Said Whitten, “This isn’t about getting rid of the Xbox 360.” I imagine we’ll be seeing the next-gen version of HD Collections in the future. Well, that or cheaper Xbox 360s. Yay.