Water
Play Xbox games on PC
Water is a game launcher for Windows that plays original Xbox games. The first time you install one, it downloads the xemu emulator, checks it and sets it up. Then Play starts the game fullscreen, with your controller ready.
The Xbox emulator, set up for you
Water plays original Xbox games with xemu, the free, open-source original Xbox emulator made by its own team; Water isn’t affiliated with it. Water downloads its official release, checks it before using it, and sets what each game needs before it starts:
- Fullscreen, straight into the game, with no setup wizard and no settings to open.
- Three times the Xbox’s resolution, a sharper picture than the console had.
- Saves for each profile, so nobody plays over someone else’s game.
- Your controller mapped: DualShock 4, DualSense or Xbox, with no driver to install. A second controller is player two.
What your PC needs
xemu plays best with 4 threads and a graphics card of its own. Water draws Xbox games at three times their size, which graphics built into the processor may not keep up with.
Settings › PC Specs in Water compares your PC with each console, and an Xbox game’s page says how well your PC plays it before you install.
By hand, or with Water
Playing an Xbox game on a PC by hand is an evening of setup:
- Download the emulator and work through its settings: graphics, saves, controller.
- Find a copy of the game you can trust, and unpack it.
- Point the emulator at it, and map your controller button by button.
With Water, you press Install, then Play.
977 Xbox games
Water lists 977 original Xbox games, every one an English release with its cover, screenshots and details, shared by people on the BitTorrent network.
The other consoles Water sets up: PS2 emulator, PS3 emulator, GameCube and Wii emulator, PSP emulator, PS1 emulator, DS emulator, GBA emulator, N64 emulator, SNES and NES emulator, and PS Vita emulator.
Try it with an Xbox game
Your first install is free: Water installs any one game, PC or console, and it stays installed. Press Install: the emulator, the game and your controller are set up by the time you press Play.
