How Would You Grade The Xbox Series X|S Generation So Far?

The hardware itself, definitely an A. Love how fast and quiet it is. Quick resume is also excellent.

Games… well, not much to say here really? Halo Infinite is great, Forza isn’t really my thing, and (excuse the slight exaggeration) that’s almost it isn’t it?

I’m sure the games will come. For now overall it’s a solid C.

Hardware: A
Services (Game Pass): B
New first-party releases: D

Overall: C

C. Could definitely be a lot better but it’s not without its merits.
Backwards compat plus enhancements are excellent and much better implemented than other console families (including the convenience of how it handles cross gen purchases)..
Game Pass is an excellent indie machine. And this is my favourite aspect of the Xbox gen thus far.
And of course the SSD is way more impressive and noticeable in both Xbox and PlayStation than any of the graphical bumps.
However I am tired of waiting for certain first party games to even show up at a conference…. Whilst Nintendo and Sony are killing it in this department.

The console is an A+

Games though are an F.

D for me. Like everyone else is saying, the hardware is fine. But the games just aren't catching my attention anymore. Maybe I'm getting old.

Same with PS5, I look at one and think about buying it, but then I wonder if there's anything I'd actually play on it and is it worth the expense...

Hardware: A
Service (GamePass): C
First Party Games: D
Overall: C

@Widey85 Based as of today after updates etc.
Hardware A+
Features/System A
Game pass D
First party titles F
Brand management & PR F
OVERALL D

The D and F can easily be turned around in 2023 if they get their act together and keep on their promises.

Perhaps Phil should stop playing GOWR and have a read of these comments on here.

Yes the hardware’s great but I can’t help feeling I might as well have stuck with my one X and saved myself 450 quid.

The hardware is topnotch, but what good is great hardware without a killer app to go with it? Other than Forza and Halo Infinite, I'm really struggling to think of any major first party releases, especially this year.

Credit where credit is due though, Gamepass has been fantastic! 😁👌

I'd go with a B, love our little S makes for a perfect secondary console. Gamepass is basically free and outside of a couple controllers I haven't spent a dime on it since getting it last December. Look forward to the next wave of exclusives!

The hardware itself has made me enjoy games a lot more than I used to, particularly the Quick Resume and fast loading speeds.

Game Pass has kept me occupied and I've been enjoying catching up with older games that I've not tried yet, and at a higher resolution.

They need more triple A games soon, but for now, it's a B because I am starting to crave a good AAA game.

Hardware: B (Series S had some challenges)
Subscription service: C
First party games: E
Brand management and confidence level: E

Somewhere between D and C overall, I opted for C. But yeah, wasn't 2 very good years unfortunately.

I feel like a D, but it's not something only for Xbox, in general. There is very little this-generation-only stuff.

The hardware is definitely great, but now we just need real good games to show what's it capable of. Halo Infinite and Forza 5 were both perfect, in my opinion. And Game Pass has a lot to offer. Most of which I would have never purchased if not for Game Pass. Firewatch, Lake, Pentiment, Back 4 Blood, The Gunk, High on Life and I'm sure more. All good, but not great.

Hardware is nothing without good software. Thankfully, XSX has good software even if lacking exclusives, especially single player focused ones. I would rate it a solid B, though.

Xbox is in the best position it has ever been in. It is truly an exciting time to be an owner. 2022 was a slow year after the delays but 23 and 24 will be stacked. It was just a year ago that xbox was the metacritic publisher of the year.

I thought it was a cool idea for them to have the most powerful console available but also a lesser affordable console as well. The Xbox community will expand greatly this gen.

Console hardware: A+

• Fast, easy to use and with a lot of good features, quick resume being the absolute blast.

Services: A+

• Game pass is the best value in video gaming. Other than that console offers great variety with apps and bonuses

Software: A-

• Fantastic games throughout. Some might say there haven't been enough massive AAA first party games but for someone like me that plays almost any genre, there's been more than a lifetime supply of games already.

I gave it a B. I’m happy with the generation at the moment. I know Xbox struggled this year and didn’t get out the games many were expecting, but I’ve had fun this year. I didn’t play Grounded much before it fully launched and I’ve been having fun playing that with my kid. Normally that’s not my kind of game but being able to play the game with my son is a total blast. I’m looking forward to what Xbox brings in the future.

Im new to Xbox. Only had my Series S a few weeks ago on Black Friday. Had an absolute bargain, paid £136 for a Series S. Love this little console. I am still finding my way around Game Pass so many games. It will be interesting to see how many the Series S sold over the last few weeks. So many bargains around.

Hardware: A ,having the most powerful in the series X,and the best budget choice in the S is a killer combo.

Services: B- ,Xbox still Resigns top with services but with gamepass lacking first party it needs work.

Games: D- High on life and Forza 5 could not save a year of one of the worst halos ever made and a lack of content overall period.

They need to have a killer 2023 with games or I think the Xbox brand is going to start to see an exodus and lose steam quickly.

Hardware = A
Gamepass = B
Games = D

Overall = C

Hardware = A
Gamepass = A-
Games = B-

If I cared more about the spectacle over substance games they peddle over at Sony it’d be lower, but luckily I have better taste than that.

The lack of first party games released in 2022 even after buying up all those studios will be remembered. My wife and son use it to Play Dragon Quest Builders 2 and I'm playing Jade Empire.

Hardware = C - Impressed by how well backwards compatibility works though I wish they didn't stop last year. As for the rest of the console, the Series X sticking with the XB1 OS makes it very clunky and if you have enough installed the problems of the XB1 start to resurface in the Series X like "[insert game] took too long to start". Switch is much faster going into a game despite being a lot less powerful.

Subscriptions = Overall D (Game Pass C, Gold F) - Xbox Live Gold has been a joke these past few years for the most part. I'm not a Game Pass subscriber but looking at the lineup I feel Game Pass has been a mixed bag. 2022 could've done with more bigger games but on the other hand if you fill it with lots of big games then fewer people will check out the indies. Finding the right balance is difficult.

Events/Showcases = F - Too much announcing stuff way too far in advance meanwhile the 2022 June Showcase which focused only on June 2022 - June 2023 was very underwhelming. Microsoft doing multiple smaller events throughout the year instead of 1 big one in June would be better.

Games = Overall D (3rd party B, 1st party F) - Have to give Microsoft some credit for being able to get more JRPGs on Xbox more recently that would usually skip Xbox like Persona 3/4/5, Crisis Core and Octopath. Sony is clearly blocking stuff so there's only so much that Microsoft can do. There was a good selection of 3rd party games as a whole but the 1st party side of things was dire. Especially a shame that Microsoft forced Halo Infinite to be released before it was ready because of anniversary celebrations and the holiday season.

Overall = E

I'd hate to give it a letter but I would say it has been "Satisfactory" on both sides.

Xbox has been my main machine for a while now. I play most of my games there unless it's ps exclusive and even then I haven't felt terribly compelled to get a PS5 yet as I can probably wait for a price drop before I even have time to get around to any of the PS5 exclusives. A Metal Gear Solid game would change that for me though.

Generally, game pass has been great. But that started before the Series' came out. Most games I have played on GP. I've played through multiple Yakuza games, a lot of our game club choices and found a few other surprises over the last couple years. Highly worth it.

Series X + GPU has been so reasonably priced compared to the competition through a combination of a half price Series X (other half paid for by Rewards points) and 3 years of GPU for £130 (using the Gold>Ultimate Conversion trick which I've used twice now)

Having said that, if more information was available about the new ps plus at the time and I had tons of money (which I didn't and still don't), I would have bought years of PS Now to get the half price premium tier for the foreseeable future. But without a PS5 and without a mountain of spare cash available, I'm not terribly sad that I have missed out just yet.

Hi there fellow gamers,
I would give my Series X a C rating at the moment.
Like many of you have mentioned, the lack of first party titles is baffling no way around that. It always seems to be "next year" for Xbox..... Hopefuly this time is true.
Gamepass has been fantastic(from a consumer perspective), since there are so many games to try out and play.
We´ll see if it will continue to have this much value.
As for the machine itself, it is pretty good. Silent, fast loadings, looks good right next to my PS5 and some of it´s games have the most amazing visuals this generation has to offer (looking at you Forza Horizon 5).
But I really want more brand new and interesting games to feel excited about, wich is why I´m very curious with Starfield and Red Fall, but also Avowed, the Indiana Jones game as well as the new Fable and Perfect Dark games. Please be good.
Cheers, stay safe good people and happy gaming to us all

It’s a D for me. There is simply no excuse for how they have mismanaged their studios. The console itself is quite good but beyond that it’s been a train wreck outside of FH5

Gave it a B. The hardware and services, overall system and platform are excellent. Japanese games are finally mostly available on the platform except falcom, the Nintendo only stuff, and the small bit of ps only stuff mostly from square. They've dropped the ball on first party games but outside forums like this does anyone actually care about "exclusive" games? I don't get that they are actually DESIRABLE for a consumer. For a platform holder it matters because you want content that forces customers to buy your platform, but exclusivity benefits the vendor not the consumer. Lack of Xbox exclusives doesn't make switch the superior alternative if Nintendo's games aren't the ones you want. And it doesn't make ps superior just because it has more exclusives, unless you specifically want to play those exclusives in which case Xbox having more exclusives doesn't help you. I swear all the harping on exclusives is nothing but an extension i of the console war to brag or feel justified in a purchase.

That and multi platform owners that only bought it for exclusive and it's not your 3rd party machine in which case it's already a fringe concern, most consumers don't do that.

For myself xb is my main 3rd party machine and switch and ps are for exclusives. And they all work very well for that. I wouldn't use my xb much if I had ps as my main 3rd party, but most consumers only have one or the other and in that context nobody could be unhappy with xb series at all unless playing ps exclusives it's what you prefer in which case that's the platform you probably bought anyway... Ms getting starfield out the door doesn't help anyone play GoW and Returnal that wants to.

B, there is a lack of first party triple A titles, compared to rivals, but the hardware and features, plus game pass, all are amazing to the point they turned my Xbox into my top platform for multi-platform games up from 4th place to 1st place (used to be Switch > PS4 > PC > XBox last gen.)

Since others are also splitting their scores on comments:

Features: A+
Quick resume, cloud saves, smart delivery, FPS boost

Hardware: A+
Nothing changed but still like the form factor and love the controller. This year also discovered the awesomeness of combining a second console in a separate room (Series S) with the cloud saves from the previous point result in an amazing semi-portable experience.

First party games: C
We did get some: Pentiment, Grounded, A Dusk Falls, Deathloop (basically an improved definitive edition of the game.)

Third party exclusives: B-
Signalis, High on Life, Scorn, Immortality, Vampire Survivors, Bright Memory Infinite, Crossfire X. We can also count a handful of short 6 month timed exclusives like Tunic there too.

Game Pass: A+
Persona 5, A Plague Tale, High on Life, TMNT? Plus everything I listed in the Third party exclusive list, and more. It was an amazing top tier year for Game Pass.

Here is hoping that XBox does not only deliver us some good first party exclusives next year, but also a handful of third party ones.

All things considered, B+. It's been a long hard road with near constant chip shortages, suppliers closed or shutdown, and oh yeah COVID. (It's like people don't even remember the whole world being affected.) I'm eager to see what they have up their sleeve for 2023.

I gave it a C - and that's mostly because I have yet to see much coming out of "this generation".

Current-gen hasn't really "started" yet. Until the vast majority of developers ditch games that also target last-gen consoles, it's hard to even really say how this Xbox generation is going.

I love the console itself and all of its features though. Coming off of the X1X - a console I really enjoyed as well - the Series X feels like a whole other world. It's pretty much the only thing that made the score a C for me.

I only have one complaint. MS needs to pick up delivery of first party quality games.

As everyone noted, the hardware is great apart from the ethernet connection not working properly. Have constant problems with the wired connection, which I have zero issues on the PS4. Can only connect via wi-fi. '9th-gen' console and almost 2023, and this is an issue?

As for 1st-party titles. It's a resounding F--. Very poor compared to what Sony brought out. Microsoft needs to bring out its 1st-party titles pronto. Grounded and Plague Tale Requiem were the only two noteworthy.

Console hardware: A
Gamepass: A
1st party games: D
3rd party games: C (around two-hundred games still skipping Xbox, but it’s still way better than Xbox One era)
Overall: C

C, and that's only because of the hardware and then the software features (FPS Boost, Quick Resume, etc.). It's been a borderline abysmal generation for Xbox Game Studios, so in a way I could have graded it even lower, but it's not the hardware or the tech team's fault that they weren't prepared for yet another generation. Hopefully things really do finally change in 2023 like they should though.

Series S = B+
Series X =A
Gamepass = A
Microsoft rewards = A+
games B-

there were a few games made by Microsoft that i liked
such as halo infinite, forza 5, grounded, deathloop, doom eternal, halo infinite, as dusk falls

I dumped the Switch after every second game performed like crap (except Nintendo's first party games). The Series S is a pocket rocket by comparison and has so much potential.

Except now, every second game I'm interested in does NOT get an XBox port! WTF?? 😖 It's so damn frustrating that so many great indie/not-quite-AAA games are released only for Switch/PS5. There's no point getting a Switch again, since the games still run like crap (where's the friggin Switch Pro?).

Should I just get a damn PS5??

I know this board likes to complain but i personally love my series S. Here is how I grade it.

#1 Xbox Series S
#2 Xbox 360
#3 Xbox
#4 Xbox One

Games = A
First party games = C (great quality, but sooo few at two years in)
Third party games = A (so many awesome 3rd party games that never came to other xbox games in the past)
Hardware = A
This is hands down the best built xbox, with backward compatibility, upscaling old games, and can use cross-gen controllers and peripherals.
Future = A
This time, Xbox has so much coming down the line I wont ever be able to play even a quarter of what I want too.

60fps becoming the norm means this generation would get a B. With the work that's gone in on both the PS5 and Xbox to boost existing titles framerates and resolution means it gets an A.

Smart Delivery and Quick Resume are both excellent QoL things that I really miss on the PS5. Brilliant features that most will take for granted now

For me personally, it's an A. I've never had so much fun with gaming and I think Xbox Game Pass is the primary reason why. I've enjoyed having access to a wide variety of games at a very affordable price (I technically haven't paid for it since late 2020 due to MS Rewards and gift vouchers for birthdays/Christmas).

That said, I'm more drawn to short indie titles nowadays. So I don't feel I'm missing out as such on the AAA front, which I know has been lacking.

Also, Xbox Cloud gaming has been fantastic and only continues to get better in terms of performance and quality. I've been surprised by how much I've used it.

C overall. The hardware, backwards compatibility (which hopefully isn't over like has been suggested) and services I'd give an A. Third party games a B (2021 was really strong imo, 2022 I felt was a down year for the AAA industry on the whole not just Xbox, indies were great though). First party is a D and I really considered giving an F. There is no excuse with the amount of $ MS has and the amount it's spent buying up studios and publishers not to have a better showing at this point. And you can say 'games take time' that excuse falls flat when it's year after year and it has been this way for a while now. No more 'just be patient,' it's past time to get the great Xbox console exclusives out, they are needed in a big way.

It has been very interesting to see how fellow gamers think about last 2 years, broken down into detailed categories.
Just wanted to say how refreshing such article was! 👍

Overall: D
the hardware is top notch, but the games are disappointing so far .
Hopefully 2023 will be a good year

XSS - A (great value at 190)
Controller - F (stick drift within a month, and feels cheap)
GP - C (some good titles, but in short time ive had it, more seems to leave than added at min)
first party - D (halo poor)
2023 -at this moment -D/ Potential of A (theres no release dates)

overall D, slightly disappointing but cautiously optimistic for 23

I think it's been pretty lame tbh. I've had no reason to replace my one x yet for the series x. We just haven't had that system seller yet.

@stvevan I also thought D. It's been below average

@MegaWatts I'd be interested to know if your opinion changes once you start paying for it yourself

First party: C - 2021 was very good, 2022 was very bad. So a C seems fair.
Hardware: A - silent and have had no faults.
Gamepass: A - too many games to play and 2023 looks even better so far

Overall a B with a slight hint of C so far

Microsoft's contribution software wise has been shocking

@Baler well I used to pay for it prior to MS Rewards etc. and my view then was that so long as I played £10.99 or more of game each month (and had fun) then it was worth it. And at the the time that was definitely the case. So if the quality and quantity of indie titles on GP suddenly dropped or I stopped playing regularly then I would probably change my mind.

Series X is my first Xbox since the 360. The console gets an A and Gamepass gets an A (I've more than got my money's worth since release despite AAA first party titles being limited compared to PS5). Owning both consoles this generation creates a constant backlog and even if I only owned a Series X I'm sure I'd still be struggling to keep up. Saying that, I hope first party titles are stronger in the coming years.

Great for 3rd parties but 1st party wise MS has barely bothered with the last big release being Halo a whole year ago.

I'd say D. There have been two AAA exclusives since launch, and that's just not good enough (Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite). And whilst I'm certainly not knocking the Xbox, I definitely get my monies worth out of Gamepass and I love the console, as far as exclusives are concerned, Sony is winning so far in my view. I'd still rather play Xbox at the moment, but hopefully we start seeing the fruits of Microsoft hoovering up all those dev studios soon.

@TJ81 Exactly the same as what you said.

We got what a broken Halo Infinite and a side grade Forza Horizon 5. I gave it an E because of the lack of games. These games aren't even Next Gen, I don't think we've actually seen one true next gen game yet from either console. For that reason I give it an E for now. I feel Game Pass is doing well, but that isn't Series S|X exclusive. The hardware itself isn't being properly used to give it a fair evaluation of this generation. I do believe this will turn around but I consistently have people telling me they won't buy a Series X until there are games to play.

Very happy with the hardware. Very disappointed with the game output from Xbox studios.

Hardware A

Everything else D

I originally purchased the Series X for Flight Simulator. I definitely consider this a next gen (or current gen now) title. It's not for everyone of course but the scope is staggering and the use of cloud tech is pretty awesome.

Its been an 'A' for amount of console gaming I've done, and I am primarily a PC gamer! Leaving it at B for the future of first party games. The value that they have given on gamepass ultimate (w/pc) has saved me more than the extra cost of a new PS5 and a few exclusives! I feel no need to buy a PS5 anymore!

Overall I’d say a C - the hardware is fine and gamepass remains terrific value but there’s too few games that have felt like it needed this generation in order for them to be good (continued support for last gen by both MS and Sony (despite their initial claims) while understandable has been a detriment for moving things along in my opinion )

@TJ81 What is your definition of next gen? I agree with the fact that MSFS is of great quality, but it runs off last generation technology and tools. I say this because the Series X is designed to use the Velocity Architecture, and to this point, I'm not sure if a single game being played is using this feature yet.

"The ne​w Xbox Velocity Architecture in the Xbox Series X|S consoles enables developers to re-imagine how to build their games. By combining a super-fast SSD, hardware decompression, and the new DirectStorage functionality, game developers have tools to develop immersive experiences with a minimal load time for players. This session will review the benefits of the Velocity Architecture and show a real-world example."

This DirectStorage feature isn't supported in current games, including MSFS.

Video from 5 days ago talking about this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-q4KPD3zyI

When your marquee franchise has to be delayed a year from launch and then needs almost another year to add features all the previous games in the series has had you deserve an F. Just to compare, Horizon Forbidden West is going to have a major expansion DLC just over a year after release. In the meantime 343 is farting around making skins for battle passes for the free MP that is so popular you never hear about it mentioned in the same breath as other games like it (Apex, Fortnite, CoD, Overwatch 2, etc..) MS likes to brag about the number of studios they have, but the output and management of those studios is shambolic! Its ridiculous to me that Xbox thinks that just buying up more studios like some corporate Pac-man will solve their issues.

@iplaygamesnstuff Fair point. I guess it's the game that's impressed me most on either platform thus far. I think we'll see some big steps forward when cross gen development is properly left behind. I'm looking forward to see what devs can do with Unreal 5. I'm personally not obsessed with 4K. It seems there are various techniques and technologies to upscale a 1080p/1440p image for example. I'm really hoping we get astounding graphical fidelity while running at 60fps minimum. That'll signify a generational leap for me. I think we'll all be fairly happy in a few years time regardless.

@TJ81 It is very impressive, my comment by no means was to argue your point. MSFS by all counts is very next gen in it's own ways breaking barriers on how it pulls assets from cloud servers because you can't keep the whole world on your PC. Just in reference to the Series X, the best is still yet to come. I think people will be blown away with the games we get that use Velocity Architecture and the direct storage benefits that come with it.