We're officially three years into the current generation of Xbox gaming! Yep, Xbox Series X|S hit the market three years ago today, bringing super-fast SSD speeds and plenty of 120FPS gaming to Xbox fans around the world on November 10, 2020.
We must admit though, it's been a bit of a weird generation so far, hasn't it? Things really didn't get going for the first year or two, and last year was particularly tough - with Xbox boss Phil Spencer referring to it as a "disaster situation" for its first party lineup. Finally though, things have started to properly turn that current-gen corner.
In 2023, Xbox has delivered Hi-Fi RUSH, Redfall, Starfield and Forza Motorsport, not to mention titles like Minecraft Legends and the company's constant push with Xbox Game Pass. Xbox Series X|S is finally hitting its stride as we move from year three to year four, and we've got a good feeling about the rest of the generation.
We're likely not even halfway through this console cycle yet, but the future looks bright. Bethesda is starting to fire on all cylinders, Microsoft eventually managed to secure the services of Activision Blizzard, and we have lots to look forward to from Xbox Games Studios teams like Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games and more. Seriously, the upcoming lineup looks absolutely insane!
We're also starting to wonder what may come from the hardware team as the generation pushes on. We already have rumours of an all-digital Xbox Series X possibly landing next year - and then there's the potential for future accessories like an 'Elite Series 3' controller or a general Xbox Series X|S gamepad refresh. It's going to be an interesting year ahead for Xbox!
Anyway, we just wanted to reflect a little bit on Xbox Series X and S so far, and how these consoles seem to be forging a strong identity as they hit their third birthday. We've really enjoyed our time with these systems, and we can't wait to see all of Xbox's amazing teams make even better use of them in the coming years.
What are your favourite memories of Xbox Series X|S so far? Tell all down in the comments section below!
Comments 37
Happy birthday Series X - here's hoping for a uplift in your fortunes for the rest of the generation!
All the talent is there, if it can manged properly it will go from strength to strength.
Been a brilliant console since day 1, but it feels like a wind of change with Zenimax, ABK and other Xbox Game Studios all coming together at the same time. Future's bright!
I’m more skeptical, I’m hoping for a bright future
But I can’t see it and I don’t know Xbox future, consoles or software only.
Going on todays shop sales of consoles so far today with all the deals and sales etc, they haven’t got a chance in hell and will be in the same position roughly by the end of this generation.
Sorry xboxers of which I’m one, I think it maybe the harsh truth. But only time will tell.
I always had ideas how companies can turn things around
But i really cant see how xbox can win in a direct compitition with PS, they can win as a publisher but i can never imagine xbox beating PS in console war and i totally understand when Phil said we cant win in the normal sense and people attacked him for me his a smart guy, poeple says oh you just have to give poeple great games...but thats not enough! Sony had their worst year in exclusives this year and had few exlusives in the hole gen, with shady future in live service games ps5 slim price increase and no stand , ps plus 33% price increase...you will think poeple will get angry but ps5 having the best year in sales!!! My logic is going with phil!! Poeple doesnt count the psychic/sociologic side of the gaming community!!
Xbox is hated by media and by other bigger very loyal fanboy base! Xbox need to give great games each year for next 10 years to get the bias off
I'm about to hit my 1 year mark with the system. I like it alot more than I thought i would.
Great console but I feel let down about the graphics quality. Nothing amazing yet. It feels a fast loading Xbox One to me.
@TakeItEasy
You are spot on with some of the things you say.
But it is simple in the mass market general public.
They just simply prefer and want PlayStation and Nintendo as a brand and most definitely the games they produce and Sony have the casual market as well.
And both Sony and Nintendo have been advertising on standard UK tv all this week and I have not seen a single Xbox advert.
They either to start producing top games that appeal to the masses and advertise or don’t bother. I don’t even think the Zenimax and Activison deal will do much for them.
My shop and the 60 shops around the UK have sold every single apart from one or two PS5 disc COD bundle £409.99 and no home delivery stock all sold out.
Series x same bundle and deal a handful sold.
That tells the masses don’t give an arse about the Zenimax and Activsion deal and probably don’t even know it happened.
Happy Birthday Xbox! I can’t say that I think the Series consoles are hitting their stride, but I do hope 2024 is the tide change, especially because Sony’s near future looks tenuous currently. (I’m console agnostic. I’m always going to champion a good release schedule and I want them all to have that).
Looking at things right now, Xbox has the potential to have a more exciting line-up than Sony for the first time in a while, but we really need to see that Xbox can deliver a full schedule. In my opinion, the smaller scale games like Psychonauts and Hi-Fi Rush have been stellar, whereas the larger scale games like Starfield and Halo have been a bit more mixed (and adding CoD to Xbox doesn’t really help make the quality look any better). I’d like for Xbox to get past this phase of “all excitement is hanging on the anticipation of one big game this year!” Too much stress for that one big game to deliver, it feels like.
Now that said, I’m really looking forward to seeing if Avowed hits the mark. I’m also hoping some of those upcoming titles end up being 2024 titles. After the last few years, I’d love to see Xbox have a thick release schedule in comparison to PlayStation. It’d be nice to see PlayStation sweat instead of the remaster and GAAS complacency they’re planning on settling into.
I've had a PS5/Series S setup for a while now. I'm upgrading the Series S to X very soon. Not only do I play my Xbox more than my PlayStation, but I feel the Series S is starting to struggle a bit with performance on new titles.
A little bit of Hyperbole but ok…
No offence to Ben Kerry but Xbox are nowhere close to ‘hitting their stride’…
Three years of basically nothing with average release after average release, even this year alone most of their big titles gave been kinda meh, Forza is good but lacking content compared to previous games, Starfield is hilariously boring and once again a bad rpg by Bethesda. The only good release this year was Hifi Rush.
Its not good enough. After three years if their hitting their strides they should at least have released something truly memorable, something killer, purchasing ABK and all of Spencers rhetoric means nothing until Xbox is consistently releasing good quality games like their supposed rivals. They have no more excuses, or reason whinge, no more ‘we cant compete’ lies and victim complex, they have nobody to blame about how Xbox is perceived than themselves.
I hope 2024 is a good year, I want to see stellar games on ALL Platforms but will Xbox deliver consistently? Their track record is against them and buying up the market doesnt change that.
The new console generation doesn't start until Nintendo releases a new console.
Right now it's generation 8.5.
Once the Super Switch or whatever they're doing comes out, we'll start to see something that looks like a whole new generation of consoles from the whole industry.
@TakeItEasy @OldGamer999 The reality is it will take many years, or even several generations to have a chance to catch Sony. It certainly isn't impossible, but it isn't going to happen overnight. This is what Phil meant when he said even if Starfield is an 11/10 gamers aren't going to sell their PS5s. The same goes for Microsoft having a big sale now, it's not going to change a huge deal. Sony has already 'won' this gen in terms of console sold between the two, that won't change.
But there ARE reasons to be positive. Xbox is more than just a console now, they are in a strong positions across the industry, not just on console. They have an unprecedented number of talented studios and staff that, if managed well, will start to put out titles faster than anyone else. We're not there YET. Like @Stormcaller I disagree they are 'hitting their stride' quite yet, but they are heading in the right direction.
I guess my point is this will take time... many, many years in fact. Microsoft need to just go about brining out quality game after quality game for years as you don't change public perception quickly. They're already on the right track generally, releasing good games, but just need to tighten up a little quality control, delay games if needed, and make sure games release in their best state.
It all begins and ends with great games. Make Xbox unmissable due to it's exclusives, right now it isn't. If they do that then I think when it comes time to buy the next box the debate will be closer. But even then it will take more time. Microsoft is playing the long game, it's a 5-10+ year plan.
It does kind of feel like the whole ABK battle threw attention into all the "wrong" places. I think now that Microsoft is done hemorrhaging money in legal fees, it can get back to the business of running Xbox!
Perhaps Microsoft could have its "PS3" moment and gain a bigger market share to usher it into the next generation in a much stronger position.
Sony has done away with a lot of its smaller title studios and is putting a heavier focus into Live Service games. Microsoft already has its own with State of Decay, Sea of Thieves, Halo, and Gears.
Microsoft is in a position where it can fill certain voids that Sony is starting to create.
Time will tell. As long as everything leads to better games across the entire industry, I am all for a stronger Xbox!
@themightyant
I strongly believe it’s all about the games.
If you have the games that the masses want then your console and GP sales will slowly pick up over time and into the next generation.
Xbox needs a very good reason for the masses to pick the console or dare I say it an Xbox over the other two consoles.
When I look at next years release schedule that we sort of know of for next year, there is nothing that will grab the masses, maybe a few gamers of course.
Being very honest, I don’t have the real answer they just need I guess a few most definitely must have games exclusive to the Xbox eco system but I honestly don’t know what those games should or could be. It’s definitely not a position I would like to be in at my work environment as a manager.
I know everyone mentions and myself about Xbox and PlayStation but let’s not forget Nintendo 130 million sold and counting.
Some don’t see them as direct competition but they must take some Xbox and maybe even Sony potential customers away from them.
Slow start with games due to COVID but hopefully things pick over the next year or so.
Series X was my entry point for Game Pass, and I had a ton of first party Xbox One games to catch up on too, so I've thoroughly enjoyed these first three years. Definitely hoping for a nice first party cadence from here on out though. Can't wait for Fable, Hellblade 2 and Stalker 2 in particular.
Everyone debating over how Xbox can catch Playstation in sales; but being in third place in sales doesn’t mean an individual can’t have an incredible time with it. The amount of games I have played shows how good a console it is, especially those played on Gamepass. In a world where everything is super expensive and I have a LOT of outgoing costs; Xbox is the most affordable one of the three and lets me play games all year round for the same price as one PS Studios game. Already a good few hours in to Like A Dragon Gaiden, for example.
Also I know most don’t agree but I much prefer Xbox’s IPs to Playstations and that is not even including Zenimax and ABK.
Since exclusives are so important; I do have hope that Xbox can provide a solid catalogue for the rest of the generation (and beyond). Almost every game announced I am excited for (still never got into State of Decay though…).
My issue with this generation is the lack of new IPs. 2006-2009 was the height of all that: Dead Rising, Assassins Creed, Gears of War, Borderlands, the reinvention of Fallout, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Dragon Age etc. Thats what I want to see happen again.
@K1LLEGAL Completely agree you can have a great time on Xbox. They are different arguments.
Reality is at least 85% of the same games come to both major consoles, especially most bigger releases, and third parties have been providing banger after banger. Like most tribalistic rivalries there is more that unites us than divides us. We are playing most of the same great games whether on Xbox or PlayStation.
But it's easy to over focus on the exclusives as those are the main differentiators. We were doing so here specifically because the article is focused on upcoming first party games, which naturally invites comparison to what the others are doing and how it will affect Xbox long term.
@themightyant of course yea the article focuses on exclusives and they make up a big part of the console experience. But just a general look at the Series X, three years into its life span, as a standalone thing. It’s awesome. If you wanna play the new Spiderman or Mario or Final Fantasy game you are out of luck but almost everything else is there.
Hopefully Xbox starts bringing some good games to the system. Need more God of War, The Last of Us and Spider-Man style games that Playstation makes. I havnt been impressed with any of the games Xbox has been coming out with. Starfield was slow, Souls like games are dumb and racing games are only fun for like the first day. Give us more Third person, story driven single player, campaign style games so All of us can be included in gaming...
Unfortunately I've been very underwhelmed with xbox so far this generation. If I'm totally honest PS is always my go to machine as I enjoy their exclusives much more but have always owned (and still do) every xbox so far. I'm still subscribed to gamepass but I really don't know why as I don't see the value in it that many do. I know I sound overly negative but I really do hope that my interest is rekindled in the coming year as more software becomes available
Had mine for about a year now, as a new player I’ve had no end of fantastic content for just the cost of the monthly sub. Shout out to the modern warfare series for being that killer app.
3 years and the only promised feature we have gotten so far is quick resume and even that doesn't work right. I have to personally disagree with this article.
Been an Xbox S owner for one year and I thought I would just play Starfield and not much else … boy was I wrong … but once it got delayed I been playing everything on Gamepass and buying on sale games and have around 90 games in my backlog now. Never been more happy!
I’m still looking for a reason to purchase a series x
Wow, three years!! I’d love to know how many games I’ve played on my XSX and how many thousands of hours. Bright future ahead too. I just hope they keep pushing the variety we’ve had this generation. Along with all the third party blockbusters it’s been nice to see a platform holder putting out niche stuff like Gears Tactics, Flight Sim, Grounded, Pentiment and Hifi Rush.
I’m still fairly disappointed in both the series x and the PS5 but I do like the direction xbox is going in.
Ive dusted mine more times than ive actually switched it on. Nothing to play. Yearly promises of things to play never pan out……….. next year next year next year - they’re still saying it now!!
All those studios and very little to show for it. Lets wait till next year eh???? Yawn
@Kaloudz Same, it is a brilliant console. Don't have a TV that does the X justice so the S is perfect for me still. p.S. I'll get a X at some point.
I love my series X and have struck with Xbox since the Xbox 360 mainly for the convenience of having nearly all my games accessible each generation. That being said it is mainly 3rd party games that I have been enjoying (Resident Evil, Sonic and various indies). Gamepass Core is a real steal at the price I got it for for a year.
However, any notion of ‘beating’ Sony in sales is a pipe dream. The PS5 is sitting at about 42 million in sales, with the Xbox at about 21 million. Now both pale in comparison to the Switch and I don’t let sales figures influence my console choice (I supported the Wii U heavily for example). Sales are also based on region: Xbox is popular in the US, Canada, the UK and a bit in Europe. Sony are popular there and in Asia as well, which means they have access to a much bigger market (same as Nintendo). So Xbox is unlikely to ever match like for like sales. However, that doesn’t stop it being a cracking system. Now let’s get some more exclusives!
I love the console but boy was that exclusive drought rough, it happened with the X1 which made it worse this time.
As we've been saying since MS started buying studios (and whole damn publishers), they have the resources, they have the studios, it's time to start delivering because, personally, I don't know I'll react to another drought.
If this is X/S hitting it stride ,it doesn’t bode well .
Happy Birthday Series X/S! I do hope the future is brighter than how the first 3 years have gone for you!
I love my Series X but it doesn't have a big time console seller in terms of exclusives and that shows in it's market shares around the world. I still think Microsoft will go the way of Sega - and an immense publisher they will be. It sucks for gamers though as it means less competition in the console space. Maybe Apple will step in eventually?!
I love my Series X. The value out of the backwards compatibility and more than enough next gen titles (more than I have time for) makes me very happy. A fine piece of tech and a happy addition to my Xbox family.
@abe_hikura still in the drought…….. wait till next year
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