Microsoft may be bringing Xbox One Game Compatibility to Windows

Microsoft’s Xbox Platform has been growing closer to Windows/PC for quite some time, with the Xbox Play Anywhere programme bringing all new first-party Xbox games to PC with support for cross-saves and other cross-platform features. Now it looks like Microsoft plans to bring Xbox One even closer to PC, so much so that it’s possible that full Xbox One game compatibility may be coming to Windows 10. 

With Windows 10 build 18334, some Windows 10 Insiders are gaining access to State of Decay, a game that will be available to play for free for a limited time. Sadly, Microsoft didn’t reveal much more information, but after some digging by Thurrott, it appears as if Windows 10 is getting some form of Xbox One game/support. 

Strangely, Microsoft’s copy of State of Decay appears to come from Xbox servers, rather than the Windows 10 Store, and use the .xvc format, which is designed specifically for Xbox One. Furthermore, this new file format can now be installed by Windows. It appears as if Windows 10 is gaining support for a lot of Xbox One’s unique file formats, opening the door for some form of console emulation on PC. 

Microsoft is clearly trying to bring Xbox One and PC closer, with keyboard/mouse support arriving on Xbox One while PC is seemingly gaining support for Xbox One’s unique file formats. This could just be a way for Microsoft to make porting games from Xbox to Windows 10 easier, or vice versa, but it could also be part of a plan to give PC full access to Xbox One’s game library. 

In a way, this upgraded feature set could turn gaming PCs into fully compliant Xbox One systems, though at this time it remains unknown what limitations will be placed on PC and how well the functionality will work in practice.