Xbox 360 recomps explained: XenonRecomp, ReXGlue and the games so far
Until Unleashed Recompiled came out in 2025, no Xbox 360 game had been released as a native PC port this way. As of 7 October 2026 we list 29 Xbox 360 recompilation projects: 2 fully playable, 8 playable and 19 still in development. Here's how the approach works, why the number jumped this year, and where to start.
What a recomp does
The Xbox 360's CPU, Xenon, is a PowerPC chip. PC processors can't run its code. The emulator Xenia solves that while the game is running, translating code as it goes. A static recompilation does the translation once, ahead of time: every function in the game's program becomes C++ source, which is then compiled into an ordinary Windows or Linux program.
The result is one port per game rather than an emulator for every game. In exchange, each port can be tuned like a PC release, with native widescreen, higher frame rates, mods and lower overhead.
The two toolkits
XenonRecomp came first, from the hedge-dev team, and was inspired by N64Recomp. It converts a game's code and nothing more. Its README is blunt that there's no runtime included and making the game work is up to you. hedge-dev showed what that work looks like with Unleashed Recompiled, still the most polished 360 port on the list.
ReXGlue, started in January 2026, fills that gap. It also turns PowerPC code into C++, but it ships the runtime pieces too, built on foundations taken from Xenia, with builds for Windows and Linux on both x86-64 and ARM64. The project labels itself early development. It's also why so many 2026 projects describe themselves as "built with ReXGlue": a hobbyist no longer has to write a graphics and audio layer from scratch.
Where to start
The ones that play well today:
- Unleashed Recompiled (Sonic Unleashed): fully playable.
- Ninja Gaiden II, Skate 3, Eternal Sonata Reprise and Naughty Bear ReStuff: playable, with rough edges.
- Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise and SmackDown vs. Raw 2007: playable.
And the ones worth watching: Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Fable II, Deadly Premonition, Crackdown and The Simpsons Game. Expect crashes and missing features in anything marked in development, and check the project's own notes before you put an evening into it.
Two projects on the list aren't recompilations: TerrariaOGC is a decompilation of the 2013 console Terraria, and Sonic P-06 is a fan remake of Sonic 06 in a new engine.
What you need
Every one of these needs the game's files from your own copy, usually the default.xex program plus its
data. Getting files off a 360 disc takes a modded console or a PC drive with special firmware. Our
dumping guide explains the options. Games bought on Xbox Live Arcade live on the
console's hard drive instead.
The full, current list with status for every project is on the Xbox 360 page.
Sources: XenonRecomp README, ReXGlue README.