The industry is currently going through a boom of remasters and remakes of classic games, like Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and others. As exciting as these updated versions of older games are, it's also important for the original versions of games to be available, too. Not just for archival reasons, but because they're often great games. That's why it's exciting to see that the Xbox marketplace recently updated with over 10 games for the original Xbox.
11 games in total have been found listed on the Xbox marketplace, each of them originally released for the Xbox console. The games include Dead or Alive, Dead or Alive 2, Dead or Alive 3, Manhunt, Max Payne, Max Payne 2, Oddworld: Munch's Odyssee, Red Dead Revolver, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Episode 3, and Thrillville. There's no clear connection between all of the games, though half of them were developed by Rockstar.
While there's been no official announcement regarding the Xbox games being listed, there is a theory regarding their appearance. That theory is that they'll be released as part of Xbox's 20-year anniversary, which is planned for November 15th. The event will start at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 PM ET which will theoretically include the announcement of these Xbox game releases returning to the Xbox marketplace.
All 11 of the games will, it must be assumed, be available to purchase and play across the spectrum of current Xbox consoles. Backward compatibility for digital products on the Xbox marketplace is fully supported, after all. Pricing hasn't been revealed yet for the eleven new games, but original Xbox titles on the Xbox marketplace are priced between $10 and $20. Original Xbox games frequently go on sale, too.
The Xbox marketplace currently only has 38 games available for purchase, which goes to show just how thin the library of original Xbox games truly is. 11 new games being added to the marketplace in 2021 feels like a genuine accomplishment. It likely took quite an effort to persuade publishers to bring these games back.
There's still much left regarding the situation to be confirmed. Between now and the likely announcement on Xbox's November 15th anniversary event, plenty could change. There may even be more games to come, though that's optimistic. Regardless, it's an exciting time for fans of the original Xbox console.