BLACK XBE Recomp (BLACK PC port)

BLACK, Criterion Games’ 2006 first-person shooter published by Electronic Arts, came out on the original Xbox and PlayStation 2 and never on PC. TGP482 published the recompiler Xbox XBE Recomp in late September 2026, created the BLACK repository on 3 October and released V1 on 15 October. GameGPU reported on the release the same day. V2 followed on 18 October.

This site is not affiliated with TGP482, Spark198rus, Criterion Games or Electronic Arts.

What it is

• A static recompilation: Xbox XBE Recomp, TGP482’s MIT-licensed tool, translates the original Xbox executable (an XBE file) into native code ahead of time. The game is not emulated.
• Built on your PC: the README says the first start compiles the game’s code for your PC, once. The project’s release script packs the program and a bundled compiler but leaves out the generated game code. We read that script; we didn’t inspect the release ZIP itself.
• Data from your copy: the game’s levels, sounds and videos are read from your own files in the assets folder.

It works like the other console recompilations in our recompiled games list.

Current status

Features listed in the README and V2 notes:

• any output resolution (replacing 640x480), render scale from 20% to 200%, fullscreen, borderless or windowed;
• a frame rate cap you can set or remove, replacing the Xbox’s 30 FPS limit; V-Sync and HDR10 output;
• field of view from 45 to 140 degrees and a separate weapon field of view;
• MSAA, SMAA, anisotropic filtering, draw distance up to 16x and SSAO or GTAO ambient occlusion;
• mouse and keyboard with raw input, SDL3 controllers, and gyro aiming on DualSense, DualShock 4 and Switch Pro controllers (V2);
• skip intro, pause on focus loss, and settings in the game’s own menus or an F10 overlay.

Known problems: on 20 October 2026 there were 31 open issues, including audio problems reported in V2 (broken reverb, volume settings not saved), smoke and fire effects disappearing at a field of view above 114, a DualShock 4 trigger not detected and a black screen on some PCs. A Linux build is requested but not offered. We didn’t play the game through ourselves.

What you need

• Your own original Xbox copy of BLACK, USA or Europe release. The README accepts a disc image or the extracted data files, placed in the assets folder. Building from source needs default.xbe from the USA release. We don’t explain how to obtain or copy game data.
• Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
• A CPU with 2 cores and SSE4.2 and POPCNT (Intel Core 1st generation or AMD FX and newer).
• A Direct3D 12 graphics card (from about GeForce GT 630, Radeon HD 7750 or Intel HD 510).
• 4 GB RAM and 3 GB of free space for the game files, compiled code and saves.

How to install

From the official README, at a high level: download the ZIP from the project’s GitHub Releases page, put your game files in its assets folder and run BLACK.exe. The first start compiles the game’s code, which takes a while once. Building from source instead needs Visual Studio 2022 with the C++ and Clang tools; the first build recompiles the whole game and can take 30 to 90 minutes.

Other BLACK projects

• black-pc by Spark198rus: a separate native Windows port of the NTSC-U Xbox version, released as v0.2.0 on 14 October 2026 under the GPL-2.0. It loads your own default.xbe and runs the original x86 game code directly on a reimplemented Xbox system and Direct3D 8 layer, needs only a Direct3D 9 graphics card, and defaults to 60 FPS. The README says it is fully playable and that the downloads contain no game code or data. Other regions are not supported. Official repository: Spark198rus/black-pc.
• PlayStation 2 version: we couldn’t confirm a playable PC port of it.

Which to pick: BLACK XBE Recomp has more graphics options and accepts the European release; black-pc runs on older graphics cards. We didn’t compare them ourselves.

Is it legal and safe?

• BLACK XBE Recomp is an unofficial fan project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Criterion Games or Electronic Arts. Its README says it does not include any game assets.
• Use only files from a copy you own.
• Get it only from the official GitHub repository. Sites offering the port bundled with the game are not the project.

Unofficial. This page is written by an independent directory. It is not made by, endorsed by or affiliated with Electronic Arts (developed by Criterion Games) or TGP482 (BLACK XBE Recomp (BLACK PC port)'s author). We do not host any files, and we never link to game files, ROMs or ISOs.