With XBOX’s 25th anniversary only three months away, Microsoft have shared more details on their celebratory plans as well as confirming dates for the remaining XBOX FanFest events.
XBOX is leaning heavily into its silver anniversary, following over a decade of missteps and questionable decisions, the platform’s new leadership are working to reinvigorate XBOX using a blend of nostalgia, community events and upcoming games.
Earlier this year, they had already announced details of a translucent green XBOX Series X and matching controller for the anniversary (pricing and availability still TBC). Today, they’ve announced even more is to come. For everything confirmed today, read on.
XBOX Fanfest 2026 Dates
XBOX FanFest is an in-person celebration of all things XBOX. It had gone away for some time during and post-pandemic, however is since returning under new CEO, Asha Sharma who has vowed to bring a return to success for the platform.
XBOX FanFest events have already begun taking place across the globe this year. The Los Angeles event coincided with the 2026 XBOX Games Showcase earlier this year, and there will be another during gamescom in Cologne, Germany in just a few weeks time. Gears of War: E-Day will be playable there for fans.
Dates of upcoming events are as follows:
- Tokyo, Japan: September 17, during Tokyo Game Show
- London, UK: September 26
- Mexico City, Mexico: October 17
- Sydney, Australia: October 17
- Toronto, Canada: November 6
- Seattle, United States: More info to come. As the home of Microsoft, I would expect something big for the actual 25th anniversary on / around November 15.
You will be able to enter a sweepstakes to attend the events via this link here. Dates of when the sweepstakes will be open is TBC.
Community Dashboard Designs
The platform have also partnered with key members of the XBOX community to bring new content to your console including new dashboards from the likes of XBOX super fan, Klobrille.
The first from Klobrille is an ode to the XBOX 360’s blades, with XBOX’s four flagship franchises – Halo, Gears, Forza and Fable – all featured around a green centre:
Also is the more thoughtful design from Ben Kenobi which aims to show that games can be an escapism to us all. In a post about the new design, Ben, whose parents once thought he was non-verbal, said: “I wanted to show we all get something different from gaming. It weaves through our lives in unique ways depending on what we want or need from the art form. When the outside world did not make sense to me, I had a place to go”.:
XBOX Game Pass Collections
XBOX have also announced that for Game Pass subscribers, they’re working on bringing curated collections of games that celebrate XBOX’s 25 years, across multiple generations.
They will include games from the original console which released in 2001, the XBOX 360’s incredible lifespan, XBOX One and the current Series X|S family of hardware.
XBOX 25th Anniversary Badge and Anniversary Hub
If you take pride in your virtual gaming record, XBOX will be awarding all players a 25th anniversary badge for their Gamercard which will be credited to anyone who plays on the platform this year.
Finally, if you’d like to take a trip down memory lane, the 25th Anniversary Hub is now live. An online page where you can recap on the last quarter of a century of green machine gaming. There is also a link to watch the genuinely great Power On documentary series. The series was launched for the 20th anniversary in 2021 and offers some fascinating insights into the story of XBOX and how close it came to never seeing the light of day.
More details and the full blog post can be found at the XBOX Wire.
What’s your fondest memory of the 25 years of XBOX? Have you stuck with the platform through some trying times? Let us know in the comments below and come and join the friendly and active Gamer Social Club Discord to chat about all your other favourite XBOX games.
