Xbox Game Pass Finally Solves the Lack of Retro Games
Up until now, Xbox Game Pass has been severely lacking in retro games. There are no games for the original Xbox on the service, and only a handful of Xbox 360 titles. There are a few games from earlier eras, like Goldeneye 007 , but even those are re-releases. Since most older games don’t get that treatment, they end up being few and far between on Xbox Game Pass. But now, Microsoft is finally doing something to fill that gap, with a new “ Retro Classics ” collection for its subscribers.
While Activision may be better known for Call of Duty these days, it started out developing games for Atari consoles back in the ’80s. When Microsoft’s merger with Activision was completed in 2023, it gained access to all those old games, and it looks like they’ll make up the bulk of the Retro Classics lineup on Xbox Game Pass — though Microsoft says it’s getting some help for the lineup from partner game-streaming service Antstream Arcade, so who knows where that’ll go in the future. At the same time, while Retro Classics may sound similar to the Nintendo Switch Online library, expect more “Pitfall Harry” than “Super Mario.” In other words, they’re going for the oldest of the old school here.
This is a bit of a shame for me. While I appreciate a good vintage game, most Atari-era games feel like novelties to me in 2025 and don’t hold up to more than a few minutes of play at a time. That said, there are a few slightly newer games, like the first two MechWarrior games.
I’d still give PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Switch Online the edge over Xbox when it comes to retro gaming, but skepticism aside, it’s still a good start. Retro Classics launches with around 60 games, with plans to add more Activision and even Blizzard titles over time, eventually reaching what Microsoft calls “over 100 games.”
That last point is promising: Activision’s more recent games include games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater , and with no Warcraft or Starcraft games currently on Game Pass, Retro Classics has plenty of room to grow significantly in the future.