A few years ago, it felt like Xbox was poised to take over the gaming world. It acquired major studios, announced several blockbuster games, and seemed to understand the future of service-based offerings like few companies in the medium did. The not-so-green-machine was ahead of the competition in some ways, but floundered helplessly in others.
There was the acquisition of beloved studios like Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Obsidian, and so many others I won’t list here. Then you have further purchases of giants such as Activision and Bethesda - both of which will continue to shape the brand’s future as we move forward. Yet all the development talent in the world can’t carry the same cultural weight as a game like The Last of Us or Tears of the Kingdom. In terms of mainstream recognition, the tide continues to turn away from Xbox and I struggle to see it gaining back anytime soon.
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Halo Infinite was a failure. It might have enjoyed critical acclaim and a bustling community of players shortly after launch, but a lengthy development cycle between seasons and no word on whether the narrative would be continued in future campaigns killed momentum, and everyone stopped caring. The departure of high-profile figures at 343 Industries and rounds of lay-offs only hammered the nail into the coffin. What was intended to be an everlasting vision of this universe was inadvertently yeeted into the vacuum of space, and now struggles for breath.
Part of me is convinced that Xbox considered Halo Infinite’s success a foregone conclusion, banking on its high user retention and seasonal offerings to not only bring in revenue, but also help bankroll other Halo projects as well as those outside the series. Instead for months we watched the company in damage control mode as it tried ever so desperately to figure out where the game goes next. Without Halo, the Xbox name does not have a huge number of recognisable mascots to fall back on. You have Marcus Fenix or the car from Forza - that’s basically it. Properties like Fable and Perfect Dark have been on ice for so long at this point that they don’t resonate with anyone but seasoned enthusiasts.
The death of shows like E3 and the decentralisation of global gaming showcases puts fewer eyes on new games and potential revivals too, or users are just too enraptured in service titles or upcoming sequels to care about whether Grabbed By The Ghoulies is being remastered. I’m trying to figure out how Xbox can reverse its fortunes in both the gaming and hardware space to not only rival PlayStation, but prove where it plans to go now that the value-induced hype first introduced by Xbox Game Pass is nowhere to be seen.
With its generosity now normalised, we don’t look to Xbox as a place to purchase excellent games and discover hidden gems, but to have them handed to us and scoff selfishly when things don’t make the cut. Microsoft has created a service-based environment that, right now at least, seems to do more harm than good. As a consequence, the flagship exclusives this brand needs to distinguish itself have become glorified freebies, products we can get to when the time is right instead of prioritising them at launch in fear of missing out on the discourse.
Games like Redfall and Starfield will be the first real tests outside of Halo Infinite, and how audiences both casual and hardcore express their interest in them compared to similar big hitters on other platforms. Redfall is somewhat more niche, but Starfield could be the next Skyrim if Bethesda doesn’t royally screw things up, and the only place to play it apart from PC is Xbox. It will, in theory, sell consoles and pull more of us into the ecosystem than ever before, but whether it can reverse the fortunes of a brand that has sat in third place for over a decade now remains to be seen. I hate to say it, but Sony and Nintendo succeed in their games and consoles because they aren’t afraid to prioritise greed, and understand the value their games hold and how much the average gamer is willing to pay for the pleasure.
Xbox has long removed that economic discussion from its repertoire, and unintentionally made us complacent about its place in the world. Game Pass and the exclusives we keep using it for are more about convenience than value, and we’ve come to both take that truth for granted and subconsciously view Xbox as a perpetual second place in the console war. Things could be turned around in the years to come, but not without some tough truths and drastic changes that present the Xbox ecosystem as worthwhile.
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