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Similar to Valve’s Proton tools for Steam Deck, a new translation tool has been created to bring Xbox One games to PC. Titles trapped on Microsoft’s console, such as Halo 5: Guardians, could soon be playable on PC with the use of the new XWine1 translation layer.
XWine1 brings Xbox One to PC
Still early in development, XWine1 translates specific computing functions that Xbox One games require and allows them to work on PC. This means that games that never received a PC port or the rare Xbox One exclusive can soon be played on a powerful enough system.
At the time of writing, six Xbox One games are currently playable on XWine1, but more games are already booting to logos. Right now, playable games include Limbo, Minecraft, Peggle 2, Sonic Mania and Chaos;Child. While not an immediately exciting list of titles, it does mean that other, more intensive games can also make their way to PC.
The XWine1 team revealed that the software will also be capable of running Original Xbox and Xbox 360 games that are supported on Xbox One. Titles such as Ninja Gaiden Black, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies and many more could run on PC.
However, the most exciting prospect is the potential arrival of Halo 5: Guardians on PC. As the only game in the series not to be released on PC, the often-maligned FPS game has seen fans beg for a port. While that doesn’t seem to be in the cards, XWine1 could make this dream a reality.
An open-source future?
At the time of writing, XWine1 is a closed-source project. However, the team behind the tool revealed it will likely become open source in the future.
“It’s not ready for public consumption just yet,” the team said. “We will likely end up open-sourcing the project alongside the first binary release, but it’s too early to confirm anything yet.”
Nevertheless, XWine1 is an exciting project that could allow console-only games over the past decade to become playable on PC. While there aren’t too many titles available on Xbox One that aren’t also available on PC, there are some, and it’s worth preserving those titles while we can.
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