By the end of the year, the Xbox One will be able to play Xbox 360 games.

At the Microsoft press conference this morning, Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced that backwards compatibility was coming to the console this year, and that all Xbox 360 games would be eligible – all that was required was the okay from a game's publisher for it to work on the newer console.

Even so, only about 100 Xbox 360 games are coming to Xbox One by the end of the year, which seems a strangely low figure. Perhaps that number will grow as the months wear on.

To play a 360 game on an Xbox One, you simply need to insert the disc, or in the case of digital titles, download the game to your Xbox One.

All Xbox 360 games played on Xbox One will be supported by the latter's social features, including screenshots, DVR, and broadcasting.

The feature was demoed with gameplay from the first Mass Effect.

Microsoft also had a dig at the competition after it announced the feature: “We won’t charge you to play the games you already own.”