What was once old is new once more—especially for subscribers of Xbox Game Pass.

This week, Microsoft announced a new benefit for Game Pass users: access to Retro Classics, a downloadable application containing over 50 classic Activision games from the 1980s and 1990s. The compilation heavily features titles from the Atari 2600 era, with nostalgic favorites like Demon Attack and Megamania making a comeback. A few additional gems, such as the quirky 1993 PC adventure game Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist, are also included—worth noting for its unique title.

SEE ALSO: Images of handheld Xbox console leak just weeks ahead of Switch 2 launch

However, there’s a major caveat: these nostalgic games are only accessible through cloud streaming. As stated on Microsoft’s FAQ page, there’s no possibility to download and play them locally. While cloud access offers flexibility across devices, it also brings latency—something that wasn’t an issue when these games were initially created to function on standalone hardware decades ago.

This restriction raises concerns about Microsoft’s professed dedication to game preservation. If these titles cannot be downloaded or owned outright and only exist on remote servers, are they genuinely being preserved? Especially given that many Atari 2600 games were merely 4KB in size, requiring users to stream them rather than providing local downloads seems like a wasteful use of bandwidth.

Interestingly, this isn’t Microsoft’s inaugural attempt at retro game distribution. Veteran Xbox fans may remember Game Room, a brief Xbox 360 app that allowed users to buy and store classic games locally—long before game streaming was even practical. That initiative was quickly discontinued, but hopefully Retro Classics will have a longer and more prosperous lifespan.