Xbox One Backwards Compatibility Prank Could Turn Console Into Very Expensive Brick


A recent Xbox One prank telling users they could enable backwards compatibility could end up turning the console into a very expensive brick.

The Xbox One prank first appeared on 4Chan, and provided a list of instructions to enable backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 games. However, following the instructions — which involves changing the developer settings — is the quickest way to get the console stuck in a bootloop, rendering the device unusable.

Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb, the Director of Programming for Xbox Live, advised gamers not to follow the steps laid out in the 4Chan infographic.

“To be clear there is no way to make your Xbox One backwards compatible & performing steps to attempt this could make your console inoperable,” he wrote on Twitter.

Microsoft has previously warned gamers against enabling the developer settings on the Xbox One in an effort to try to turn the console into a developer kit.

“Changing the settings in this menu is only intended for developers for Xbox One, and this alone does not turn the console into a development kit,” Microsoft said. “We strongly advise consumers against changing these settings as it could result in their Xbox One becoming unusable. Customers who have put their consoles into this developer setting can revert by restoring factory defaults under Settings / System, select Restore Factory Defaults.”

Microsoft has been pretty straightforward about the fact the Xbox One would not be backwards compatible since the console’s reveal event in March, despite the fact that the Xbox 360 was compatible with nearly 500 original Xbox games. However, senior director Albert Penello said the console could offer backwards compatibility through its Azure cloud servers someday.

“That’s one of the things that makes [the cloud] at the same time both totally interesting and hard to describe to people. Because what the cloud can do is sort of hard to pin,” Penello said. “When you say to the customer, we want the box to be connected, we want developers to know that the cloud is there. We’re really not trying to make up some phony thing.”

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