It’s sometimes hard to believe how quick time flies, but 4 years ago to the day, Xbox released its current generation of consoles, the Xbox Series S and X. How have these consoles fared in that time since, and where are they headed as a console? There’s a whole lot to unpack here so let’s dig in.
Launch Brings Plenty Of Optimism
2020 was a pretty dark time in the world, with COVID still dominating world and bringing many economies to a screeching halt. Many people wern’t working and there wasn’t much in terms of entertainment out there. People were stuck inside with hardly any new forms of entertainment. The sports world stood still, movie and tv production stopped. Game development became remote which meant many games would be delayed (more on that later).
By November things were starting to get a little more normal as Xbox and PlayStation readied their newest consoles for release. Neither one launched how they had planned, but they launched regardless. For Xbox it was a time to turn the page on the Xbox One. After all the momentum they had built up with the Xbox 360, they more or less burnt up all that good will with the One. The One focused on everything but gaming, and by the time they had realized their mistakes it was too far gone. On November 10th they looked to put gaming back at the forefront with a 2 pronged plan, 2 consoles simultaneously launching.
With the Xbox Series S/X, Xbox launched a powerful, state of the art console designed for true next generation gaming. They advertised it as the most powerful console ever made. The S on the other hand was designed as a cheap barrier of entry for consumers to get a next generation console at half the price. The idea was the casual fans can get a cheaper console to play the Fortnite’s of the world and subscribe to Game Pass for the first party games. It was a good idea in theory, however it ultimately may have been a poor one looking back.
The launch however was met with a lot of excitement, though it did get tempered some thanks to delays from Covid. While Xbox had been marketing it since the Series S/X announcement, Halo Infinite got delayed at the last minute as well as some other third party games. And while it was clear Xbox was banking on Halo the console still launched with some solid games such as Gears Tactics, The Falconeer, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and more. It also launched with many upgraded versions of previously released Xbox exclusives to show off the power of the console such as Forza Horizon 4 and Gears 5.
And the excitement lasted for a little bit. While the Series consoles never really reached the success of the PlayStation 5, the Series consoles were doing better than the Xbox One launch and even the Xbox 360. Add in the enticing value of Xbox Game Pass and the recent purchases of many studios to reinforce their first party, and you can see why there was some excitement around the consoles.
The Letdown Of The Early Years
Unfortunately, Xbox wasn’t able to use that early momentum to its advantage, at least not right away. The list of first party games and exclusives have been a mixed bag and few and far between up to this point. While the company has invested heavily into gaming by purchasing publishers Bethesda and Activision, the company has yet to fully realize its potential and bring consistent games.
The first full year of the consoles was a solid year with Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 as well as Flight Simulator coming to consoles. While Halo had a mixed reaction, Forza and Flight Sim were, pardon the pun, top flight games. Xbox also released many other games that were highly rated such as Psychonauts 2, however many of these releases weren’t exclusive due to previous deals being in place before Xbox purchased the studios. Infact, Xbox was actually named the best publisher of the year in 2021 thanks to it’s slate of games, even if they didn’t all directly help the console.
2022 on the other hand, was a low spot for Xbox in terms of games as the company didn’t see a single AAA release. The biggest release of the year for the company was…..Grounded? Grounded is a great game, however it was already out for a couple years in early access and was never meant to be a big game for the console. The only other game they released was Pentiment, which again was a great game however it was always meant to be a compliment game to the console and Game Pass, not the focal point.
The Beginning Of A New Era?
Then we get to 2023. This year was expected to be a turn around of sorts for Xbox. Yes 2022 was rough, but 2023 had a lot of games coming. The Activision deal was to be settled sometime (it was settled in late 2023) and some heavy hitters were expected. Ultimately the year ended up being a mixed bag. Hi-Fi Rush, while not a big game, was a critical success. The studio Tango Gameworks however has since been sold off. Minecraft Legends was a decent enough spin-off of the massive IP Xbox owns. Redfall was the first big game to come from Bethesda since the purchase and it unfortunately failed to deliver.
How you feel about 2023 for Xbox first party likely hinges on how you feel about 2 of its more polarizing games, Starfield and Forza Motorsport. Both released near the end of the year and both were either adored by fans or hated depending on who you spoke to. I personally thought Starfield was good not great and I can’t speak on Forza.
Which brings us to the present. 2024 has been perhaps the wildest ride yet for Xbox and there’s a lot left to write for this story. The year started with layoffs and the announcement of some first part games moving over to Playstation. The one game they did release early in the year was Hellblade 2, which again had a mixed reaction to it with many loving it (including myself) and others saying it was a step back for Ninja Theory.
The later half of the year however has been a breath of fresh air in terms of games both in quality and quantity. We’ve already seen the likes of Age Of Mythology Retold, Ara: History Untold (PC only at the moment), Diablo IV: Vessel Of Hatred and Call Of Duty Black Ops 6. A week from now we will see the release of Flight Simulator 2024 and Stalker 2 and a few weeks after that Indiana Jones will drop. It’s been a great end to the year and something they can truly build on, especially if those last 3 games deliver.
Game Pass Continues To Headline
Of course when we do talk about Xbox, you have to include Xbox Game Pass. While many will debate the output of Xbox from a publishing standpoint, few can argue that Game Pass continues to be a great deal for what it delivers.
Not only is every game already mentioned in this article on Game Pass day 1, the service continues to see many games large and small launch day 1 and build the value. Games like Flintlock The Siege Of Dawn, Dungeons Of Hinterberg, Lies Of P and many more all landed onto the service.
It appears Xbox has somewhat abandoned the idea of buying up third party exclusives in favour of making Game Pass deals. And really, that’s best for everyone. Xbox gamers get the games, the publisher’s get sales from other consoles while making money from Xbox and Xbox grows its platforms. And the service will only get better if Xbox can get it’s first party studios pumping out consistent quality.
The Future Looks Bright, But Many Questions Linger
So what does this all mean for Xbox moving forward? If I am being honest it’s both exciting and worrying to think about the future of Xbox. Xbox fans are constantly saying “just wait til next year” to the point where it’s become a running thing in the community. I know I’ve said it myself. And here’s the thing, I’m saying it again.
2025 and beyond is looking incredibly good as an Xbox gamer. Games Like Gears Of War E-Day, Fable, Avowed, South Of Midnight, State Of Decay 3, Doom The Dark Ages….the list of games coming is quite impressive, so long as they hit like I think they can. They’ve also already landed many deals with partners for exclusives and Game Pass games like Ark 2, Atomfall, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and many more. It’s hard not to be excited about the future if you are an Xbox gamer.
The worrying part is the direction Xbox is going. As discussed, Xbox is pushing more games to its competitors. Indiana Jones is already been announced to be coming to PlayStation and who knows what else will. That in and of itself isn’t that concerning. If PlayStation gamers get to play the games that doesn’t affect my enjoyment of the game. What is concerning however is the effect it will have on the console itself.
Xbox has said they are committed to the consoles and will continue to make them. If they do, then my worry goes out the window. However until the next console is actually announced, and what it looks like in terms of power, I can’t help but hold my reservations. So let’s just say for now I’m cautiously optimistic.
All of this is to say that looking back on the Series generation has been a mixed bag for Xbox. If i was to give it a grade I’d give it a B-. The X as a console is fantastic and Game Pass has a lot of value. First party has been hit and miss and is really what is holding this generation back, however the roadmap is hard not to be excited about.
