Here it is mid 2015 and the console wars between Microsoft’s Xbox One, Sony’s PlayStation 4, and Nintendo’s Wii U are definitely raging on. The E3 conference is in full swing and there is no shortage of big video game news coming out of the event. Microsoft however just announced a move that will maybe shake everything up just a bit.

According to Phil Spencer, head of Xbox for Microsoft, has announced that the company’s Xbox One product will gain backward compatibility in the later part of 2015. That’s right. You can play games you already own for Xbox 360 and play them on your new Xbone. This essentially means that Microsoft just dropped the mic on Sony, whose PlayStation Now product has yet find success.

Check out this line from Mike Ybarra who works in engineering for Microsoft:

“We won’t charge you to play the games you already own.”

The plan is to have 100 or so titles available around holiday 2015 with more to come in 2016 and ultimately to allow Microsoft to claim the title of “Most Available Playable Games” on any console. You’ll not only be able to put in your disc and download a game to your library that you already own, but also be able to play your digital copies that you might have downloaded as well. Footage of Spencer and Ybarra at E3 can be seen in the video below.

So does this pry your money from your hand on a next generation console? Has Microsoft done enough to get back into the great Console Wars that was swinging in PlayStation 4’s favor?

Video

[Source: Kotaku]