With all of the excitement of E3 and the thrills brought on by Project Scarlett, Microsoft’s next generation gaming platform, there was some bittersweet news as well. Microsoft announced the next batch of games that are now available via Xbox’s Backward Compatibility program will be the last. The team over at Xbox is now looking forward to the future of the platform with Scarlett, and in turn will be looking at how to help gamers' libraries stay with them moving forward, which means no more games coming to the Backwards Compatibility program from now on.

With the recent release of Crackdown 3, Crackdown 2 is now Backwards Compatible and has dropped to the always reasonable price of nothing. Crackdown 2 was originally released for Xbox 360, so seeing Microsoft not only expand their current library on the Xbox One, but making sure anyone can play their games is great news for all Xbox users.

The end is in sight, everyone! One more month of summer, and then autumn will come sweeping in and bring with it that refreshing cool air. To get through August, Xbox is offering not one or two co-op titles, but four - yes, four! - titles to play with some buddies: Forza Horizon 2, For Honor, Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, and Dead Space 3.

Microsoft continues to please owners of the Xbox One with more additions to its Backwards Compatibility program, with the most recent members of the family being a slew of Halo titles, including Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo 4 (Disc Version only).

The backwards compatibility mode on Xbox One is like having a cupboard of forgotten games that keeps being filled.  Pop in there today and you may just spy a game or two that you own; Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two or SEGA Vintage Collection: ToeJam & Earl. 

Summer is a great time to play through all of the exciting titles that are released throughout the year and even some older ones as any new releases tend to opt for Fall or Winter launches. You can take advantage of this time by playing some Call of Duty: Ghosts again, which has landed on Xbox One’s backwards compatability list.

Keeping with the schedule of interesting, unpredictable choices, Microsoft has announced that Kane and Lynch 2 will will headline their Games with Gold for July, 2017. While the title was originally released for the Xbox 360, it has been on Xbox One’s list of backwards compatible games since December, 2015. Our thoughts on the game can be found, here.

Announced through the Major Nelson blog, Dead Space 2 and its co-op friendly sequel Dead Space 3 will be joining the ever-growing library of titles that have been added to Xbox One through backwards compatibility.

The best thing about the ever increasing list of games that are backwards compatible on the Xbox One is the way a game will pop up on your Available to Download list.  If you owned Contra on the 360 you can now access it on the One, along with four other single player games.

The list of Backward Compatible games for the Xbox One is ever increasing with classic title, after classic title.  Sometimes the games are not quite that classic, but fun to have anyway.  Co-Optimus still loves you Madballs in Babo: Invasion.

December may be a time of giving, but with Games with Gold every month feels a little like Christmas.  There have been plenty of co-op games that have been given away for 'free' in the past and December 2016 is no different with Burnout Paradise and Outland amongst the games on offer.

I haven't played a ton of skateboarding games in my life, but I was a fan of Skate 3 (even if the co-op was so-so). I'm also not the only one that would love to see a Skate 4 despite the fact the development team behind those games is now long since scattered to the wind. At least I'll be able to grind all over again now that Skate 3 has been added to the Xbox One Backwards Compatibility list.