It notably also allows original Xbox games to be played online again following the Xbox Live shutdown on 21 April 2010 (similar to that of Save Nintendo Wi-Fi for the Wii) and certain GameSpy titles such as Saints Row 2 to be played online after the GameSpy network shutdown on 31 May 2014.

XLink Kai acts as tunneling software, installed to a compatible Microsoft Windows, macOS, or Linux computer on the same network as the console.

The Kai client is still required to be running on a computer on the user's network, but players can control connections directly through the console.

Players in these arenas will be automatically synced to each other, simulating a LAN connection and thus able to play games normally using System Link functions.

It features integrated chat lobbies in which players can meet and converse prior to starting a game session.