Project Gotham Racing 4 is one of the games that Microsoft most needs to add to its backwards compatibility program. However, the project has had difficulties with licensing, which is why the possibility of it releasing on Xbox Series X|S or PC is quite minor in some form due to compatibility issues. The game itself appeared on the Xbox 360 in 2007 and remains a platform exclusive to this day.
Previously, Project Gotham Racing 4 could be launched on PC via the Xenia emulator, but now a native launch option is also in development. Recently it became available for public testing GitHuband the first tests have appeared, which shows that the game is already running very well despite being in alpha testing status.
The project is based on recompiling the Xbox 360 version of PowerPC code. Unlike classic emulation, this method reduces system load because the processor part of the original executable is converted to run on the PC. At the same time, Xenia is currently used for the graphics part. In the future, developers plan to add their own native rendering, which should also improve resolution, frame rate and overall image quality.
You can watch gameplay of Project Gotham Racing 4 below from the Video Game Esoterica channel, which tested the PC version. The author notes that the game already runs well and looks close to the original in most scenes. There are graphical artifacts, freezes, and crashes, especially when switching between races, but progress is maintained before crashing.
To run Project Gotham Racing 4, you need to purchase a copy of Project Gotham Racing 4. The player must independently extract the ISO image and provide the project with the location of the archive. There is currently no automatic disk reading as the build is in the early stages of development.