The 3 Best Methods to Play Xbox 360 Games on a Windows PC

Microsoft has ended support for the Xbox 360 console: the Xbox 360 Store and Xbox 360 Marketplace will shut down in July 2024. But you can play classic games again on your Windows PC with the methods below.

Xbox Cloud Gaming

If you want to start playing Xbox 360 games on your Windows PC without worrying about hardware or software configuration, Xbox Cloud Gaming is the easiest way to go.

Xbox Cloud Gaming is Microsoft’s cloud gaming service. It works by streaming from the servers running the games for you. As a result, you’ll need very little hardware to run it smoothly. You can stream games from the Xbox app for Windows or even a web browser.

To access Xbox 360 titles on the service, you’ll need to subscribe to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier. The best part about the subscription is that you can play all Xbox 360 titles and other games available on Xbox Cloud Gaming for a single monthly fee.

Although your PC hardware is less important for cloud gaming, there are some requirements you should be aware of. You’ll probably need a game controller for certain titles. You’ll also need a high-speed internet connection: Microsoft recommends 20Mbps for desktop PCs and 10Mbps for laptops to play games smoothly.

Xbox 360 games available on Xbox Cloud Gaming

Games from the Xbox 360 collection are constantly being added to Xbox Cloud Gaming. Currently, the popular Xbox 360 games available include.

Steam

If you just want to play a few games on your PC and don’t want to pay for a monthly subscription, you can purchase individual Xbox 360 titles on Steam.

For those of you new to Windows gaming, Steam is the most popular game platform for purchasing and installing games from different publishers. Many Xbox 360 console games are either ported to Steam or have a version that runs natively on Windows.

The downside is that your PC must have hardware powerful enough to run the games you want to play. Since Xbox 360 games are older, many of them aren’t that graphically demanding. You can get by with a CPU with integrated graphics for on-board gaming or a dedicated GPU on a budget PC build.

Xenia: Xbox 360 Emulator

If Xbox Cloud Gaming and Steam don’t have the Xbox 360 title you’re looking for, is there another way? You can play Xbox 360 games on your PC with an emulator called Xenia. Xenia is a Windows program that mimics the Xbox 360 console as software so you can play Xbox 360 games on your PC.

Xenia comes with all the pros and cons of playing video games on an emulator. Many Xbox 360 games work almost perfectly, as if they were original PC ports. However, some games show visual bugs, lack sound, or crash. Others run slow, even on top-tier hardware. Unlike the other methods mentioned earlier, plug-and-play doesn’t always work.

One more thing: Xenia is just an emulator, so it doesn’t provide any games. You’ll need a legal way to get ROM backups for the games you want to play.

Xbox 360 games available on Xenia

You can see the status of almost any Xbox 360 game you want to play from Xenia’s game-compatibility list. Searching for a specific game, like Ninja Gaiden II, lets you see how well it runs on Xenia. I also like to use the filter label:state-playable to browse all playable titles from start to finish.

Some currently “unplayable” titles can be made playable by applying the tweaks mentioned in their respective threads. When this isn’t possible, the solution is to simply wait: Xenia’s developers can improve game compatibility over time.

How to Play Xbox 360 Games Using Xenia Manager

To make setting up Xenia easier, I recommend using a helper program called Xenia Manager. Xenia Manager provides a user interface that makes it easy to change settings and save profiles for each game. This way, you don’t have to manually change things every time you load a game.

Before you begin, I suggest you test and calibrate your gaming controller on Windows first to make sure everything is working as expected.

To get started with the emulator, download and install Xenia Manager. The first time Xenia Manager loads, accept the prompt asking you to install the Microsoft .NET Runtime.

Next, click Install Xenia Canary to install the latest experimental version of the emulator. Once this is done, restart Xenia Manager to ensure everything loads properly.

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