Xbox at a crossroads

It’s been a long time since the early days of Xbox. This thought forcibly takes over my mind when I look at the current Xbox consoles. It feels like everything is upside down with Xbox these days. The price of the GamePass service is only increasing, consoles are barely even found in stores, and old selling points like Halo and Forza Motorsport are now also on PlayStation.

How on earth did we end up here?

First, we have to go back to the source of the good days, the Xbox 360 console. This entertainment device called the Xbox 360, released 20 years ago, was in many ways the pearl of its time. It was Microsoft’s own product, with which it fought against the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii game consoles. Before that, of course, the debut console Xbox, which cleared the space in the consumer market and offered yet another new option when thinking about which device to play on. It’s good to bring up the Xbox 360, because it took the good features of the first Xbox console and made them even better and more efficient. Technology had advanced again and the lower price than the PlayStation 3 game console made me buy that device too. It held up very well despite the famous Red ring of death bug. The bug in question, which broke the console, is a good example of how Microsoft took consumers into account by offering to repair the console if a bug occurred.

Then, of course, there were good games that couldn’t be found elsewhere. Competitors also had good exclusive games, like they should have, because the exclusivity itself was the thing that sold games. Exclusive games and their marketing go back to the 80s, when Sega and Nintendo really fought for buyers by marketing their consoles with their mascots. Sega with Sonic the Hedgehog, Nintendo with Super Mario and later PlayStation with Crash Bandicoot. The selection of games that aren’t available elsewhere is therefore a selling point and Xbox joined this with its own Master Chief character in connection with the Halo game series. The Halo 3 game, worth mentioning, was an excellent success and sold 3.3 million copies in just 2 weeks.

And we shouldn’t forget the Xbox Live online gaming opportunities. They were essentially the same as PlayStation, although PlayStation 3 had free online gaming while Xbox Live had a fee. However, PlayStation suffered a nasty reputational blow during the PlayStation 3 console era when its online services were hacked in 2011 and all PSN user data was stolen. This of course fell on Microsoft as they watched their biggest competitor struggle through the hack.

Consoles were doing their job, the game selection was good and consumers felt like their opinions mattered. Then came Xbox One.

Xbox, go home

It can probably be said that this is where the downfall began. Anyone who follows the gaming media remembers the infamous E3 launch event where the Xbox One was announced. The console was expensive and there was not enough focus on showcasing the games. Instead, the device’s multimedia features seemed to be more important to Microsoft. The Kinect camera, an accessory announced during the Xbox 360, was now a mandatory part of buying the console, and the mandatory online connection while using the console did not arouse joy in players. The final nail in the coffin was the feature that games could no longer be loaned to another player. There were many very unwelcome features that Sony was able to utilize in its own PlayStation 4 announcement. Sony’s PlayStation 4 announcement event featured a cheaper price, optional online play, and how to successfully loan games.

Although Microsoft backed down from the features it announced after the event, the announcement event and its impact remained in the minds of players. Efforts were made to regain trust for years, and, for example, GamePass was announced. With the changes, the Xbox One gradually began to be something that the Xbox had been before. However, in terms of sales, it fell far behind the PlayStation 4. And then came the Xbox Series consoles.

The beginning of the end?

Microsoft released two consoles at the same time, the Xbox Series S and the Xbox Series X. The Series X is more powerful and processes games with better graphics, and includes a disc drive. Both can process the same games released for the Series series, but of the two, the Series S is much cheaper. On paper, two consoles might sound good, so that you could play new games for less money.

This has caused a headache for game developers, as Microsoft decided that games cannot be released separately for the consoles = games must come to both devices. The Xbox Series S is weaker in terms of power, which has sometimes made it difficult for game developers to get new games to run well on the device.

During the existence of these consoles, perhaps the biggest changes in Xbox history have taken place, which have made some players wonder about Microsoft’s actions and think whether Xbox is dying. Exclusive games that were previously selling points can now be found on the PlayStation Store. Such a move makes you think that the console war between Sony and Microsoft is over, that Microsoft no longer cares…

The current generation of consoles, which are only a few years old, are not showing off on every store shelf, and GamePass, which was considered a pretty good service, raised prices drastically in late 2025. Monthly service price increases have been seen on other services as well, but the price increase can be considered exceptionally drastic. The service, which previously cost 17.99 euros, is now 26.99 euros. Such a price increase makes anyone think twice about continuing their subscription.

The latest specials include the Asus ROG Xbox Ally handheld console, which… is an Xbox console? Or is it a computer? It is a Windows-based gaming computer that includes an Xbox button. It does not run Xbox Series console games as such, as the games must be Windows-based. The Xbox in the name refers more to the service than to the Xbox gaming device.

Looking at the current state of Xbox, it seems that Xbox is more of a service than a console. What should we think about the future of Xbox? The boss of Xbox (Sarah Bond) says that a next-generation Xbox console is in the works. The aforementioned events surrounding Xbox have sparked rumors on the internet that Microsoft is ending console development. But what should we expect from the new console?

Xbox is clearly not what it used to be. It has changed over the years in ways that consumers have not been happy with, so how can it win people back? Not everything has been seen yet regarding the green-lit console, but Microsoft’s latest actions regarding the console do not exactly inspire confidence. Microsoft is on a slippery slope that it has not seemed to be able to climb. If it can put studs in its shoes, it may still have something to say.

 

Featured image from Unsplash, retrieved on 2.12.2025

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