5 Years Later, Xbox Has Fumbled Its Promising Comeback

Eight months into a global crisis, gaming was at its most popular level since the mid-2000s. And no gaming brand stood to benefit more from the state of the world than Xbox. After the Xbox One lost ground to both its competitors following a series of baffling decisions by old leadership, Microsoft’s gaming umbrella needed a fresh start. With hardcore fans chomping at the bit for new hardware, and lapsed gamers returning to their hobby, the Xbox Series X and S were an answer to all the ways its predecessor screwed up. It was powerful, focused squarely on gaming, and offered a compelling vision of what the future of playing games could be.

Five years later, however, what started as a worthwhile gaming option has been diminished by a torrent of mixed messaging, price increases, and an ongoing identity shift that’s coming at the expense of those who believed in the original promise of the console at launch.

While not everyone saw the vision at first, Xbox’s decision to offer two variants on its new console was ingenious. The $500 Series X was for the serious player who wanted all the modern bells and whistles, like 4K resolution and extra horsepower. The Series S, on the other hand, was an all-digital alternative targeted at the casually curious.

By releasing it at an affordable $300, the same price as a Switch and somehow cheaper than a PlayStation 4, the Series S was the best machine for those who just wanted to play some games in their free time. Sure, the comparatively less capable Series S caught flak from some in the development community. But ultimately, it was a machine that benefited customers.

Convenience was the real star of the show in the first few months. Smart Delivery ensured the best version of a game was available at no extra cost or steps, regardless of which version you bought. When upgrading a PlayStation 4 game to its PlayStation 5 version meant spending extra money or complicated multi-step processes, Smart Delivery was a real difference maker.

Then, there was Game Pass. Just 18 months into its existence, the subscription service still seemed too good to be true. For those just jumping back into games with their $300 next-gen console, paying $15 to access hundreds of games was a no-brainer alternative to spending $70 per launch title. Factor in seamless cloud saves, robust backwards compatibility with old games, and a wave of next-gen patches for existing Xbox One games, there was no question that Microsoft offered a better user experience at launch.

There was only one issue with the Series X and S. Halo Infinite, the one must-have title that would have made this a perfect console launch, was delayed to the following year. It was a serious blow. I’d argue that if it had made launch, Halo Infinite wouldn’t be sunsetting support four years into its promised 10-year plan.

Unfortunately, Halo Infinite’s absence was a sign of things to come. As the years went on, new releases built for the Xbox console dried up. It absolutely delivered when it came to creative, smaller experiences like Psychonauts 2, Hi-Fi Rush, and Pentiment (and later South of Midnight and Keeper). But the big swings were not coming at as steady a pace as PlayStation.

The PS5 saw a new Ratchet and Clank, Deathloop, God of War Ragnarok, Horizon: Forbidden West, and two Spider-Man games, all in its first three years. These are huge titles from the company’s top talent, all of which can’t be played elsewhere. Meanwhile, big tentpole releases like Halo, Indiana Jones, Avowed, and Fable were all delayed. In the case of titles like Perfect Dark, Contraband, and Everwild, they were cancelled outright.

Making matters worse, the few big Xbox exclusives that did see the light of day often disappointed. Arkane’s Redfall was a far cry from the studio’s previous games, like Dishonored. Starfield felt destined to live in the shadow of its sister series, Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, from the moment it launched. And while the Forza series has remained excellent, the racing games aren’t exactly system sellers.

Instead of course-correcting for its lack of high-profile titles, it seemed that Xbox’s solution was to change the course of its business altogether. Rather than ensuring its internal teams actually released its games on time, it looked to acquire publishers like Activision that already do so. It now releases games on competing platforms, a great decision for players and the company’s bottom line, but one that leaves Series X and S owners wondering why they didn’t get a PlayStation 5.

At the same time, many of the advantages Xbox had five years ago have been unraveled. Game Pass’s highest tier has doubled in price. The Series S’ appeal as a cheap alternative means less in an era of tariff-induced price increases. And it's laid off thousands of developers it hired as part of its many acquisitions, many before the games they were working on ever got released. Most importantly, the Xbox Series consoles feel like a literal afterthought, as the company’s own messaging is calling anything with a screen and access to the internet an Xbox worth owning.

I don’t think the Xbox brand is going anywhere, as it’s still making money as a business. It’s still releasing great games people care about, and its biggest franchises like Forza, Halo, and Sea of Thieves are finding all-new audiences on PlayStation and Switch.

But when you look back at just how promising a start the Xbox Series X and S had, it’s striking how much things have changed. Sure, certain issues like price increases were out of its control. But choices, like how much it devalued its own hardware by axing exclusives altogether, is its own doing.

In 2020, buying an Xbox Series X or S felt like embracing a promising, customer-friendly future that understood what makes console gaming a worthy alternative to PC. In five short years, Microsoft has tossed all of that out in favor of blazing a bold new trail. While this new approach could bring a new level of success to Xbox as a brand, it feels like it’s doing so on the ashes of the goodwill it built at the start of the generation. The Xbox Series X and S are great consoles that should have been Microsoft’s big comeback. Instead, it’s the definitive symbol of what Xbox is leaving behind by abandoning the tried and true tactics that get players invested in a platform’s ecosystem.