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Xbox May Update: Retro Classics Come to Xbox Game Pass, PC Gaming Updates, and More - Xbox Wire

Big updates this month for Xbox - Retro Classics are now on Game Pass, GeForce Now streaming is live for Xbox PC, tons of new Xbox Play Anywhere games, and more.

news.xbox.com

Announcing Retro Classics available for Game Pass Members

We're thrilled to announce the launch of Retro Classics, a collaboration between Xbox and Antstream Arcade, available to play for Game Pass members globally. Starting today, Game Pass members can dive into a collection of 50+ classic Activision games from the '80s and '90s, including beloved titles like Commando, Grand Prix, Kaboom!, Mech Warrior 2: 31st Century Combat, and Pitfall! This initiative is a step in our commitment to game preservation and backwards compatibility, allowing players to experience many timeless games on modern devices.

With Retro Classics, Game Pass members can expect a seamless gaming experience across console, PC, and on supported devices with cloud gaming. Whether playing on Xbox console, the Xbox app on PC, or streaming on supported LG and Samsung Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV devices, and Meta Quest headsets, Retro Classics offers a versatile and accessible way to enjoy these nostalgic titles. Game Pass members can access Retro Classics through their Game Pass membership by searching and installing the feature via their console or on the Xbox app on PC. Additionally, players can take on friends, rivals, or the entire world with unique challenges. For the achievement hunters, there are some great new ones to collect, and for newer players, the ability to save and reload your progress, a first for many classic titles.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Great stuff.

Wish Nintendo would do something like this.

 

[Diseased Yak]

Hell yeah!

 

[CobraAB]

Interesting....

I think.

 

[Evil Calvin]

Nice!! Can these be purchased separately? I hate that NSO style of playing games where the games cannot be played or bought without subscribing. I want an Atari50 Activison collection!

 

[justiceiro]

That's one way to make Activision massive back catalog available.

Hopefully we get other publishers there soon.

 

[The_Mike]

Why would a pc player pay for a sub to play these retro games when we can run them better natively, with better graphics settings, without streaming?

 

[Punished Miku]

Hell yeah. I'll take it

 

[Hideous Snake]

Why would a pc player pay for a sub to play these retro games when we can run them better natively, with better graphics settings, without streaming?

 

[rodrigolfp]

Even PSX games!!!

Even SNES games!!! MS does what Nintendon't.

 

[Darsxx82]

#bestdealingaming..... more and more.

Great stuff


"Additionally, players can take on friends, rivals, or the entire world with unique challenges. For the achievement hunters, there are some great new ones to collect, and for newer players, the ability to save and reload your progress, a first for many classic titles."

 

[LordCBH]

That's pretty fucking cool, actually.

 

[Baemono]

Great stuff.

Wish Nintendo would do something like this.

You mean a subscription service that focuses on retro games ?

 

[El Muerto]

Looks alot like Antstream Arcade, which is a great service. Sure you can emulate, but the fun is the challenges and beating someone elses high score.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Why would a pc player pay for a sub to play these retro games when we can run them better natively, with better graphics settings, without streaming?

It's included with GamePass and not a separate thing

Could be cool for the cheevos, leaderboards and rankings.

Xbox did something similar many years ago on 360 I think it was, where it was a virtual arcade and with your avatar you would go inside and play tons of atari games and more. Except back then it was al a carte on the games

 

[VolticArchangel]

This is coming to all tiers?

 

[vaibhavpisal]

You mean a subscription service that focuses on retro games ?

Make available their entire catalog instead of nickel and diming.

 

[Punished Miku]

Looks alot like Antstream

It is

 

[Gambit2483]

Heard Retro and immediately thought of "Xbox/360".

How awesome would that have been to bring back Retro classics like Blinx and Brute Force...

 

[Mephisto40]

Edit : Ignore, just used my eyes slightly more

 

[daclynk]

 

[Magic Carpet]

The original Atari 2600 Pitfall?

 

[adamsapple]

 

[Little Chicken]

Wait wait wait

I was told Game Pass was "winding down" and would "end soon"

But instead Game Pass is adding amazing new features?

 

[rodrigolfp]

Edit : Ignore, just used my eyes slightly more

On the second image. Must be just some search history.

 

[Punished Miku]

Heard Retro and immediately thought of "Xbox/360".

How awesome would that have been to bring back Retro classics like Blinx and Brute Force...

Pretty sure I have Blinx. I would love BF though.

 

[Mephisto40]

Retro Classics with Game Pass launch lineup:

• Activision prototype #1
• Atlantis
• Atlantis II
• Barnstorming
• Baseball
• Beamrider
• Bloody Human Freeway
• Boxing
• Bridge
• Caesar II
• Checkers
• Chopper Command
• Commando
• Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood
• Cosmic Ark
• Crackpots
• Decathlon
• Demon Attack
• Dolphin
• Dragster
• Enduro
• Fathom
• Fire Fighter
• Fishing Derby
• Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
• Freeway
• Grand Prix
• H.E.R.O.
• Kaboom!
• Laser Blast
• MechWarrior
• MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat
• Megamania
• Pitfall II: Lost Caverns
• Pitfall!
• Police Quest 1
• Pressure Cooker
• Riddle of the Sphinx
• River Raid
• River Raid II
• Robot Tank
• Sky Jinks
• Space Quest 2
• Space Quest 6
• Space Treat Deluxe
• Spider Fighter
• Star Voyager
• Tennis
• The Adventures of Willy Beamish
• The Adventures of Willy Beamish
• The Dagger of Amon Ra
• Thwocker
• Title Match Pro Wrestling
• Torin's Passage
• Trick Shot
• Vault Assault
• Venetian Blinds
• Zork I
• Zork Zero
• Frostbite
• Quest for Glory 1

 

[DeepEnigma]

Wait wait wait

I was told Game Pass was "winding down" and would "end soon"

But instead Game Pass is adding amazing new features?

What's it like to make up boogey man stories in your head while gaslighting yourself?

 

[Punished Miku]

Retro Classics with Game Pass launch lineup:

• Activision prototype #1
• Atlantis
• Atlantis II
• Barnstorming
• Baseball
• Beamrider
• Bloody Human Freeway
• Boxing
• Bridge
• Caesar II
• Checkers
• Chopper Command
• Commando
• Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood
• Cosmic Ark
• Crackpots
• Decathlon
• Demon Attack
• Dolphin
• Dragster
• Enduro
• Fathom
• Fire Fighter
• Fishing Derby
• Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
• Freeway
• Grand Prix
• H.E.R.O.
• Kaboom!
• Laser Blast
• MechWarrior
• MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat
• Megamania
• Pitfall II: Lost Caverns
• Pitfall!
• Police Quest 1
• Pressure Cooker
• Riddle of the Sphinx
• River Raid
• River Raid II
• Robot Tank
• Sky Jinks
• Space Quest 2
• Space Quest 6
• Space Treat Deluxe
• Spider Fighter
• Star Voyager
• Tennis
• The Adventures of Willy Beamish
• The Adventures of Willy Beamish
• The Dagger of Amon Ra
• Thwocker
• Title Match Pro Wrestling
• Torin's Passage
• Trick Shot
• Vault Assault
• Venetian Blinds
• Zork I
• Zork Zero
• Frostbite
• Quest for Glory 1

"Launch lineup." Sounds like they may add to it. Guess we'll see.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Great initiative. This is probably just the start and more classic games will make its way to GP. Microsoft is really committed to BC and cross platform. It's really good to see. I just wish their app was better.

 

[jshackles]

A lot of these games like Zork, Quest for Glory, Caesar II, The Adventures of Willy Beamish, and Police Quest are on GOG - in case you want to buy them and own them instead of streaming them

Best Video games, DRM-free | GOG.COM

Download the best classic and new games on Windows, Mac & Linux. A vast selection of titles, DRM-free, with free goodies and 30-day money-back guarantee.

www.gog.com

 

[SILKYSMOOTH30FPS]

Eh not for me. I want new games i buy new systems for, not titles released decades ago.

 

[adamsapple]

Eh not for me. I want new games i buy new systems for, not titles released decades ago.

Why not both .gif

 

[Magic Carpet]

Freeway. Thats the Chicken version of Frogger.

 

[SILKYSMOOTH30FPS]

Why not both .gif

Because when i get into a new game, assuming it offers a decent amount of content, i usually stick to it for a while and 100% it. By the time i am done, a new game is out, and i move to it. No time to spend on the older stuff. And generally speaking, i really am not into the retro stuff.

 

[adamsapple]

Topher can finally relive the memories of the popular Atari games from his 40's.

 

[bender]

MechWarrior 2, dope.

 

[Little Chicken]

What's it like to make up boogey man stories in your head while gaslighting yourself?

sexy

Freeway. Thats the Chicken version of Frogger.

 

[BlackTron]

Great stuff.

Wish Nintendo would do something like this.

I don't know how to tell you this, but...

 

[skneogaf]

Excellent news

 

[jshackles]

I hadn't heard of Antstream online, so I looked it up

Antstream Arcade: Play over 1300 Classic Retro Video Games

Antstream Arcade is the world’s largest retro gaming platform, with over 1,300 licensed titles, tournaments and challenge modes. Subscribe for instant, unlimited access to the entire catalogue of classic video games on PC, Mac, Mobile, Xbox, PlayStation and more.

www.antstream.com

Their regular streaming platform has over 1,300 retro games where they are apparently adding new games every week. Their selection is a bit "bottom of the barrel", but obviously better than the few dozen Activision games that are part of Game Pass.

Apparently you can buy a $99 "lifetime pass".

Buy Antstream Arcade - Lifetime | Xbox

Play over 1300 classic retro games, participate in global tournaments, get gold in mini-game challenges, have fun playing couch co-op, and challenge the community to beat your high scores.

www.xbox.com

 

[Sp3eD]

This is really cool. Great idea

 

[El Muerto]

My experience so far with the image quality on my hardwired xbox

I hadn't heard of Antstream online, so I looked it up

Antstream Arcade: Play over 1300 Classic Retro Video Games

Antstream Arcade is the world’s largest retro gaming platform, with over 1,300 licensed titles, tournaments and challenge modes. Subscribe for instant, unlimited access to the entire catalogue of classic video games on PC, Mac, Mobile, Xbox, PlayStation and more.

www.antstream.com

Their regular streaming platform has over 1,300 retro games where they are apparently adding new games every week. Their selection is a bit "bottom of the barrel", but obviously better than the few dozen Activision games that are part of Game Pass.

Apparently you can buy a $99 "lifetime pass".

Buy Antstream Arcade - Lifetime | Xbox

Play over 1300 classic retro games, participate in global tournaments, get gold in mini-game challenges, have fun playing couch co-op, and challenge the community to beat your high scores.

www.xbox.com

I subbed to one year. It's pretty cool, but if you sign up you only have access to that platform you signed up on. So if you signed up through Xbox, you can't access Antstream on PC or PS. I emailed them asking if there were any plans to have one account accessible on pc, Xbox and PS and they said it was in the works just no ETA.

 

[jshackles]

Anstream's announcement

Xbox Launches Retro Classics for Game Pass powered by Antstream

Antstream Arcade is proud to announce an exciting collaboration with Xbox, Activision, and Blizzard to launch Retro Classics, available for Game Pass members globally.

www.antstream.com

With new content, challenges, tournaments and even more games launching every month, Retro Classics kicks off a living collaboration to excite and entertain gamers and inspire the Game Pass community. Plus, for the first time, save functionality enables players to track their progress and take on their friends and family.

To celebrate the launch, Antstream has a limited time introductory offer exclusively for Xbox Game Pass members to get their first full year of Antstream Arcade on console for just 9.99* via the Microsoft Store. Dive in and play instantly from Antstream's library of over 1300 licensed game titles including over 600 challenges, weekly tournaments, global leader boards and new games every week. The perfect way to continue your retro journey!

So, it sounds like they're planning on adding new games to the Game Pass thing every month. Also, seems they'll be doing a $10/year promo for Game Pass members that want the full retro catalog.

 

[Black_Stride]

Thats not what Enduro looks like?
Are they remastering it or something?

 

[Punished Miku]

So, it sounds like they're planning on adding new games to the Game Pass thing every month. Also, seems they'll be doing a $10/year promo for Game Pass members that want the full retro catalog.

I'd try it once for $10 I guess. I don't expect I'd pay $100 ever.

 

[dorkimoe]

put 1v100 in there

 

[Zacfoldor]

Even PSX games!!!

Even SNES games!!! MS does what Nintendon't.

 

[Topher]

Topher can finally relive the memories of the popular Atari games from his 40's.

 

[Gambit2483]

Pretty sure I have Blinx. I would love BF though.

Yeah but how many people don't have those Xbox (retro) Classics? A lot I bet...

Crimson Skies, Jade Empire, JSRF (if they could get 3rd party deals)?? ...those would have been much better Get, imo.