Year In Review: How Would You Grade Xbox In 2020?

For the console launch it has to be an F (I'd only put it marginally higher for PS5), the biggest problem for these console launches is that you simply don't need them to play the overwhelming majority of games released around the time. Plus both had plenty of software issues at launch (Xbox less so) and overall without them there wouldn't be much difference in the games people were playing.

On a more positive side Gamepass is coming along very nicely with some great additions for fans of all types of games. Then we had the Xbox game announcements, many of which look to be hugely promising games for the future and of course Bethesda's acquisition. Of course Ori was a great game and Flight Simulator was well received.

Overall I'd say Xbox's future looks to be an easy A but in the here and now I'd give them a D. The hardware and building blocks are in place for a very bright future

Series X is a brilliant console. I avoided Xbox in previous generation, but in this generation I think Xbox nailed it. Grade A.

I loved my Xbox in 2020. My backlog is insane & I can hardly wait to see what’s in store for 2021! 👍🏻

(In other words, I voted A on most of the questions, except for the Games With Gold selection. That has been 👎 most of the year.)

Overall, I think Xbox had a great 2020. But it was much more of a building the future kind of year.

I love my One X and mean to get a Series X really soon. The only thing that held me back on buying one at launch was the lack of really big first party titles, something I hope (and think) will be corrected soon.

Game Pass is amazing, as always.

Happy new year, everyone!!!

It's always been my favorite platform and Game Pass has made it very ideal for me.

Definitely not a vintage year.
By looking at the results the main positives were game pass and studio purchases.
Let’s hope both lead to a great future for Xbox.
Highlight for me was series x release and the I guess future potential with new studios and AAA quality games.
A quick shout to Gears, Hivebusters and of course Game Pass.

@carlos82 What software issues did they both have? I have a PS5 and not had a single software or hardware problem yet. Waiting on Xbox as it always seems sold out, but if there are software issues it might be worth holding off until they've been solved. If they are less that the PS5 then it's fine by me as 0 errors in over a month I can live with. And I have a nice spot ready and waiting for it in the new year.

@StonyKL multiple reports online with rest mode, particularly with the Spider-Man games as even Insomniac acknowledged it and released a fix. I personally had a few crashes during gameplay or the console just refusing to connect to the controller. Plus some poor design with PS5 games not able to transfer to external storage, "other" taking up huge amounts of storage and the PS5 being obsessed with installing PS4 versions of games even if you have the PS5 version right there. There was even a bug which wouldn't remove icons from you home screen even if you uninstalled a game but that doesn't seem too widespread. Xbox had some issues with quick resume not working correctly as well but these appear to have been fixed now

As someone who was just getting back into gaming and last January decided to start saving for the PS5 I can say that Xbox did a pretty good job this year by completely surprising me that I own a series x, and a day one unit at that.

I'm loving gamepass and the speed of this machine and the massive amount of games i get to try for the first time. The community is pretty awesome as well so I'm hoping to get to play online with more of you folks this coming year.

I gave them a B overall because of the Halo debacle and the really poor execution of their live events. Outside of that A+ for me.

How did Xbox do this year, you ask? Well, let me just say that I started 2020 as a staunch supporter of Playstation who wouldn't even look at an Xbox. Fast forward to November 10 and I'm a happy owner of an XSX and I don't miss Playstation

Overall I gave them a B, but an A for the Xbox Series launch purely because launching any new product, let alone a new console generation, in 2020 is quite a feat.

Game Pass blew me away this year and made me more than happy to continue purchasing 3-month tickets. If this Ubisoft rumor becomes true, it will be an incredible 2021.

The launch was reminiscent of the 360. Hardly could get your hands on one and everyone was in a mad scramble. I skipped the One launch and got mine a year later.

I preordered my Series X via the Walmart app easily within seconds of the window opening. I then just had to wait for November.

Overall, I feel 2020 was a great year [for Xbox gaming]. 2021 should be even better!

Game Pass is certainly a big win for Xbox this year. There is currently nothing like it. The game variety is excellent, even if I skip most. It's very consumer-friendly. The addition of EA Play and purchase of Bethesda blew me away, even if I had already played what I wanted to play from them.

I don't think I played any Games With Gold this year. The good ones I already owned. It's a better program for gamers who are catching up on older games.

The presentations were mostly disappointing. Many good games are on the horizon. But I hate how many "announcements" and trailers are for projects with nothing to show. So many major games are released unfinished or with severe bugs like crashing. The industry needs to move away from previewing games before production reaches the polish and optimization stage.

Anthem and Cyberpunk 2077 were major disappointments this year. Watch Dogs: Legion is alright. AC: Valhalla is good, but I prefer Odyssey.

It was a long wait until my Series X arrived. But now I'm enjoying it. Here's hoping 2021 offers some good exclusives. Maybe MS Flight Simulator will arrive by summer.

@carlos82 ok I see. does sort of ring a bell. Not had any issue with Spiderman or any other crash at any point so possibly all fixed now. Sounds like the same for Series X as well then. I also haven't tried Cyberpunk yet so probably 99% of issues is using that pile of %^&...

I voted ALL F scale for every single things of XBOX Series X.
No Backward Compatible with Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix and Universe series, Hello Kitty game, Kinect games, Casual games from XBOX and XBOX 360.

No Exclusive 1st party kids games like Nintendo on XBOX Series X, No girly and Kinect games by Microsoft anymore.

Not interesting at all with Gamepass, Xbox Gold, etc. I play my games in 100% physical, No digitals at all.
Don't even care in the slightest for cheper price. I want expensive one in physical rather than dirt cheap digital or streaming only games.

XBOX ONE was Blah, Series X was even Blah for me.
XBOX and XBOX 360 are my decent choices because i already have the games but don't have the machines yet.
Beside, i consider both XBOX and XBOX 360 games as my snacks while Nintendo and PlayStation machines are my main course, meaty and juicy.

@Anti-Matter
A mountain of salt here. Stick to Nintendo and PS then. You do have a choice you know.

@gollumb82
I bought some XBOX and XBOX 360 games last Wednesday.
I will start my new experiences from XBOX and XBOX 360 only, the machines that i have never before playing.
At least i still consider them as alternative addition.
Sorry for my rant about XBOX ONE and Series X but i saw nothing interesting from those machines.

@Anti-Matter
I get it. Difderent strokes for different folks. To me everything about the Xbox is new so it's difficult to compare. Still, all Fs? Come on, man. I do hope that when some new exciting exclusives start coming to Xbox you'll change your mind

@gollumb82 don't waste your time, it's like trying to communicate with a rock lol

I'd rate it a solid C overall. Releasing 2 consoles that many people seem to be enjoying and Xcloud is terrific, exactly what I hoped it would be. Still a lack of banger exclusives imo but they're hopefully well n on their way of fixing that issue.

@gollumb82
So far, from XBOX ONE itself i only interested by Kinect Disneyland, Kinect Rush Disney Adventure and Zoo Tycoon.
Just only 3 games, Nothing else and all of them are actually Remastered version from XBOX 360 with addition normal controller play for both those Kinect games. I don't want to buy XBOX ONE just only to play those 3 games. It just wasting a lot of money.

I will not consider any multi console games (example LEGO games, PAW Patrol, Cars 3, etc) on XBOX ONE version since i can get them easily from Switch or PS4 / PS5 version.

I'm still waiting Microsoft drop their ego and start to make another Girlie / Kiddie games just like Nintendo did. Microsoft already did for Kinect games and it was pretty good, i actually like it but too bad Microsoft stop supporting Kinect games.
I will eat my words when i see plenty cute, kiddie and cartoonish games by Microsoft (not by 3rd party developers) on XBOX Series X.

@Anti-Matter
Ok, but what you're looking for is unlikely to come to Xbox. These games have mostly come out for PS and Nintendo for some time now.

@Kefka2589
True story Do I get a reward? Seriously, though, I'm platform-agnostic and it so happens that I wanted a change from Playstation. No hate or anything. Will probably buy a used PS5 in 3-4 years just to play The Last of Us 3 and then sell it

I gave it a A overall, There wasn't any exclusive games at launch but with backward compatibility and my insane backlog i have enough games to last me this entire gen.. Now lets not forget all the insane announcements and reveals we got this year, We got the acquisition of Bethesda, We got games like Fable, Perfect Dark, Avowed, Forza Horizon 5, Hellblade 2, Gears 6, Halo Infinite, Everwild and many more.. The future of Xbox is 10/10..

An overall B, the series consoles are a+, and 2020 for Xbox is the best Xbox year since we learned the phrase "Kinektimals"

@Anti-Matter

Why are you even here? To troll?

Don’t you have some weird dance game to play to occupy your time?

@gollumb82

He’s a troll from Nintendo Life. He drives people nuts over there too. Like someone else said, I wouldn’t waste your time.

I need to take my own advice, however. 😉😂

@KelticDevil
Thanks man! I had no idea as I don't visit Nintendo Life Got enough life in my Xbox.

@Kefka2589

I know, as a long time Xbox fan, I say to myself every day......

“God, I wish Kinect was still around & companies like Rare were relegated to making games for it!” 😉🙄😂

I mean who wants Sea Of Thieves or Everwild when you can get Kinect Sports?!! Lol.

@gollumb82

I don’t go there often because I don’t own a Switch. But I respect Nintendo, even though I don’t give them my $ or time anymore. And there are some interesting articles.

But I’ve checked out a few comment sections there & that guy is in them saying the same stuff he is saying here. Over. And over. And over. Lol.

“I don’t care about Doom Eternal on Switch! I just want more kids games & dance games.....”, etc. etc.

@KelticDevil
No. I really like DDR games.
You might not believe at first but i posted my purchases with actual photos to show what games i want to play on XBOX and XBOX 360.

@gollumb82
I remembered if Microsoft created Super Lucky's Tale on XBOX ONE.
Used to be it was XBOX ONE Exclusives until Microsoft ported and upgraded the whole game and called New Super Lucky's Tale to Nintendo Switch, PS4 and XBOX ONE (again), it was no longer XBOX ONE Exclusive.
Since it was not Exclusive to XBOX ONE anymore, i picked the Switch version and not consider the XBOX ONE as i can play it anywhere in handheld mode and without online checking.

The console itself is brilliant, but not having any next gen, first party games at launch hinders it. I didn’t expect Halo Infinite to launch with it, but I would have liked to see something launch along side it, instead of the typical Cod or AC, two games I couldn’t care less about. With all of that said, Game Pass has become something that truly makes Xbox. I hadn’t turned my One on for quite a while, but getting GP changed that completely for me.

@Kefka2589
""I really wish they'd make a Kinectimals 2"

I would like to play Kinectimals 2 on Series X if Microsoft really make it happen. 😀
I want something like Nintendogs on XBOX machine.

@KelticDevil still better than EA Sports though....

Kinektimals marked the beginning of the Matrick runaway mine cart in my mind.... Probably an ok family game really, but my head just groups the whole time 360 went into the dumpster chasing Wii through the XBone meltdown into one big smoldering mess . It's been a long road to get to the Series launch and get started again...

@NEStalgia
Hello. 😀
We meet again on PureXbox.

Why are Xbox haters on this site? What’s the point? Live your life 😂

@Thwomp_Stomper
Well, i still give some chance for XBOX and XBOX 360, though i only can consider very few games that really suitable with my taste.
I already purchased some games of XBOX and XBOX 360, my first time ever. 😀

Okay, the reasons i voted All F for every Xbox Series X aspects because i was totally brutal honest with what i found from Series X so far.
I felt disappointed, Series X looks like copy paste of XBOX ONE with more power and more ridiculous machine design.
I like XBOX 360 Jasper model as it was the most beautiful XBOX machine looking in my opinion. Original XBOX and XBOX ONE have way much better machine design than Series X. I really like the White color of XBOX ONE Slim. In contrary, Series X machine design looks like my speaker box LOL.

@Anti-Matter haha, yep. I've been here all along though

Overall I gave it a C,

Xbox series X/S launch was a C because of shortage of stock and the fact in the first 4 weeks the ps5 sold more than double the S/X combined

Xbxo exclusives I gave a F as this year (and the rest) has been abysmal apart from flight simulator and ori

Studio Acquisitions I gave an A due to Bethesda (can't remember a bigger acquisition in history)

Cloud gaming I gave a B as I've enjoyed gamepass on my mobile the last few months but not all xbox gamepass games are there and there is some serious lag at times.

Gamepass I gave a B as again some good additions such as EA, dragon quest and nier automata but I'd already played those on ps4 and the rest on gamepass were old first party titles, really enjoyed state of decay 2 though, hopefully 3 has a story.

Games with gold I gave an F as the games offered have been really poor especially when compared to what Sony offer every month, I suppose that the draw back of the gamepass.

And lastly for the digital events I have a D as the first presentation was just cut scenes and no hype, the second one was better but still no really amazing games or gameplay and of course the abysmal halo infinite gameplay reveal.

@Anti-Matter you want kid games then go for Nintendo, that's always been the way. The Xbox has never really been geared towards that market. 360 they gave it a try but didn't really work. PS is good for the exclusives, even then I only played ghost of tsushima and fall guys on my PS4 pro this year. Why don't you just buy an Xbox or xbox 360? It's not like you can't buy them anymore. So not sure why you don't have them but have the physical games? Maybe that's the generation to stick with for ur children's and ur gaming needs. Never thought I'd read anyone pining after a kinect game. 2020 still has some surprises left it seems.

Anyway I think it's been a great year for Xbox overall. Yes there were things that could have been done better or differently. But this hasn't really been a normal year and I think the Microsoft team have done a great job overall. Think Gold really needs kick up the butt, though in saying that it did get me into the WRC games. So there were nuggets of gold (hee hee) in there. Think the series X is the strongest Xbox has ever gone into a new console generation. Mine died, but I'm putting that down to them trying to get them built so quickly. I am looking forward to being able to order another one when in stock. Gamepass is brilliant and continues to get better. The addition of EA play grew my already too big backlog even more! Happy new year everyone and roll on 2021!

@Anti-Matter wow its sad you're getting bashed because of the types of games you like, all gamers are different and enjoy different types of games, that's the beauty of gaming as there are types of games for everyone, you shouldn't waste your breath on here and just stick with playstation and nintendo as they cater to all gamers

@Nexozi
I already purchased some XBOX and XBOX 360 games last Wednesday.
Well... still don't have the machines yet. 😅
But i will try get Original XBOX machine on year 2021 as actually i found there was a seller in my hometown who have Unmodded Original XBOX NTSC USA for sale, the right machine to play my DDR Ultramix games.

I am loving game pass on my Xbox one. Just started subscribing back in August, and it is great! The perfect service for filthy casuals like me.

@Anti-Matter Nice, the OG Xbox was great. Loved the green and crystal versions. If you can get an unmodded one that's been looked after you should def go for it. 360s are a bit more of a hazard when buying 2nd hand. Best getting from a store that offers a warranty. I went through 8 back in the day because of the RROD! Was there not a new dance dance game out recently or did I dream that? Hope my post didnt come across as bashing, was just suggesting sticking with those other generations.

@Nexozi
Konami suddenly screwed up when they released DDR 2010 version for PS3, XBOX 360 and Wii.
I remembered when Konami have released first trailer of new DDR for PS3 and XBOX 360 by using DDR Hottest Party songlist added with new songs, it was brilliant idea until they scrapped that idea and release the new DDR with same interface from the first trailer (but with green color schemes) on DDR X2 Arcade. Instead, they release new DDR on 2010 with very unappealing Western licensed songs, very weak stepcharts, very few songlist amount and No Double mode + Edit Mode after Konami did really well and professional on DDR Ultramix 1 - 3 XBOX 360.

Konami is still making new DDR games on Arcade, the latest was DDR A20+ and you need e-amusement card to unlock the hidden songs as they need to be cleared first before you unlock them.
It's sad, Konami seems don't want to provide their great games on consoles anymore. Instead, they still keep supporting Powerful Pro Baseball on PS4, Momotaro Dentetsu for Nintendo Switch.

@NEStalgia

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Lol.

@Nexozi

Trust me.....it’s easier just to hit the ignore button on him. If not, he’ll just keep going on & on & on about the same thing over & over.

Plus, since he posts 593 comments when he gets going, it makes it easier to scroll through to the comments you actually want to read. 👍🏻

@UltimateOtaku91
You obviously haven't read his first post. Do that and then tell us again who's bashing who, ok? Everyone is entitled to an opinion and that's fine. Same as with looking for the games you want to play. The Switch/Playstation is clearly the best choice for him.

Series consoles and Gamepass are a big win. So is the Bethesda announcement. But still lacking in strong first party titles. Xbox desperately needs more AAA first party games. This year was very strong with Sony and Nintendo is always strong with first party. Microsoft needs to step up. Hopefully Fable, Perfect dark, will pay off. More importantly, Halo Infinite needs to be amazing. Bethesda for sure will pay off but it seems that’s a longer term plan.

2020 was good mostly because Xbox fixed the backward compatibility issue which didn't allow me to play older Xbox titles. Some awesome new games were released this year.
I rewarded them by buying some older games. Which i found to be better then these high tech marvels that brake my fingers and cause anxiety attempting to understand the button config.
On the bad side. It appears Xbox is going downhill. By taking away the game size , release date info, ratings and ability to report issues to them directly to them. They have shown that they really don't care anymore what their users, supporters or new gamers. Very sad they just become another giant ignorant, greedy corporation much like Sony. Where money is king and your opinions no longer matter as long as their bottom line doesn't fall out underneath them.

From a complete outsider perspective: C+.

No big exclusives at launch for the new machines hurts a bit. The hardware itself is great, although it remains to be seen if the extra horsepower in the Series X will amount to anything, as a number of games seem to be performing better on PS5. And I'm personally a bit disappointed that it'll take a while for xCloud to launch on PC, as I have no interest in playing games on my phone.

With that said, the first party line-up this year has been the best I've seen in the Xbox One generation since launch (nothing spectacular, but there are actually a few games I'm interested in), Game Pass is an amazing value and allows access to some really big titles, more Japanese games like Yakuza 7 and DQXI S continue to make their way over, and, of course, Bethesda was a megaton acquisition for Microsoft.

Not a bad year. Hopefully 2021 goes right for Xbox fans. It should be starting out pretty strongly with The Medium.

Wow, I seemed to choose the most selected option every time. We really think alike on first-party titles, acquisitions and Game Pass.

For me, the mediocre launch of the Xbox Series X isn't a problem at all this year - so far, Game Pass made me love my Xbox One All Digital, and I don't feel any need to renew my console, which is really very comfortable.

I gave it a B. Seems like most people agreed with me. Overall, pretty good year.