Xbox 360 recompilation has begun with an unofficial PC port of Sonic Unleashed.
Sonic Team’s 2008 platformer launched on Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and Nintendo Wii, before a PlayStation 3 version released in 2009. Sega never released a PC version.
Now, 17 years later, fans have taken it upon themselves to make a PC port of the Xbox 360 version of their own, dubbed Sonic Unleashed Recompiled. There’s even a trailer.
This is not a simple port or the game running on PC via emulation. Rather, it’s a ‘from the ground up’ PC version of Sonic Unleashed, which even includes enhancements such as high-resolution support, high framerate support, and mod support. It also runs on Steam Deck.
It’s worth noting that to play Sonic Unleashed Recompiled on PC, you need to own a copy of the original Xbox 360 game. This is because the port recompiles the original Xbox 360 version game files into a playable PC version through the process of static recompilation.
It’s a big moment for console recompilation. 2024 saw a number of classic Nintendo 64 games recompiled to work on PC, and now it looks like the Xbox 360 floodgates are open.
“That's it, Sega just lost the easiest 40-60 bucks ever,” one YouTube commenter said. “All we just wanted was a native PC port of Sonic Unleashed. Now we have, and it is 100% free and open source.
“Years of modding Unleashed's assets to Generations, and improving Xbox 360 emulation led to this breakthrough.”
“This is genuinely a huge moment for Sonic fan projects,” said another. “We now have an incredible native port of an incredible 17 year old game. Sonic Unleashed is the game that made me a Sonic fan and now I get to experience it in native HD 60fps with mod support. I'm really thankful for this.”
Added another commenter: “Genuinely one of the biggest moments in the Sonic the Hedgehog fan base ever. One of the most beloved games finally being available on PC. Whether official or not, I'm happy that it's here, and I'm happy that more people can play this legendary game.
“Thank you to all who were involved in the development of this, you are parts of history now.”
While enthusiasts point to fan work like this breathing new life into games thought consigned to history or unsupported on modern platforms, publishers may take a dim view as recompiled PC ports threaten official PC ports that may be in the works. The question now is, how will Sega react?
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
