I really like consoles greater than something however Microsoft has me much less excited than ever concerning the Xbox Collection X successor

Microsoft’s current-gen beasts, the Xbox Collection X and S, are approaching an enormous anniversary. This November will mark 5 years since each wonderful gaming blocks have offered us with late nights spent enjoying the most recent Sport Go recreation drops and hours upon hours of leisure. With the typical lifespan of any fashionable recreation console between 7-8 years, it’s greater than probably that the subsequent wave of Xbox {hardware} can also be proper across the nook. however Microsoft’s ongoing multi-platform kick makes me much less excited for the subsequent period of Xbox {hardware} than ever.

Virtually 5 years later, each consoles are nonetheless going sturdy, and 2024 even noticed the discharge of refreshed fashions, which launched new colorways and a few well-needed storage upgrades to the current-gen consoles. However simply because the Xbox One was solely out for seven years earlier than the X/S grew to become the subsequent neatest thing, the X/S will quickly be paving the best way for one thing new. And through a time when beforehand unique Microsoft video games and Sport Go might be discovered elsewhere, that one thing new will already be beginning off with an enormous drawback.

Microsoft has been steadily releasing its beforehand unique video games on different platforms for some time now. As of typing, I’ve even been having fun with the fruits of their multi-platform labor, enjoying Uncommon’s Sea of Thieves on my PS5 each single evening after work. A recreation which, till April 30, 2024, was solely playable on an Xbox One, Xbox Collection X/S or on the PC by way of the Xbox app and PC Sport Go. Uncommon’s pirate journey isn’t the one recreation a part of Microsoft’s multi-platform development, however Grounded, Hello-Fi Rush, Pentiment, amongst others, have all made their approach to their rival consoles.

This 12 months seems to be simply as ripe with Xbox video games making their approach to different platforms. Indiana Jones and The Nice Circle, Doom The Darkish Ages and Forza Horizon 5 are all slated to come back throughout to the PS5 in 2025. Based on recognized leaker and extremely regarded insider NateTheHate, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Halo: The Grasp Chief Assortment are additionally anticipated to make their manner over to the upcoming Nintendo Change 2, making the subsequent era of Xbox consoles much less interesting to me than ever earlier than.

Consoles apart, there isn’t something that the Xbox Collection X/S can do this one of many finest gaming PCs can’t. I’ve the Xbox app on my Home windows PC, which provides me entry to my Xbox buddy record, achievements, and, in fact, entry to considered one of Microsoft’s finest belongings – Sport Go. Currently, I’ve been itching to play Avowed, however as an alternative of reaching for the Xbox Collection X, I can simply obtain it from PC Sport Go and away I’m going. Even considered one of my favourite facets of present Xbox {hardware}, the finest Xbox controllers, are suitable with the PC, too.

After all, the subsequent Xbox Collection X follow-up is certain to come back with its personal set of efficiency upgrades, which is alluring. However, if and when my PC begins to fall in need of the necessities of future Xbox video games, I can simply improve it. Which inevitably, I’ll must do anyway as my Home windows PC isn’t only a gaming machine. Until Microsoft pulls out some Nintendo-themed gimmick that my console-collecting self merely can’t ignore, the tech big has made the present way forward for Xbox {hardware} much less interesting than ever for a multi-platform participant like me.

It’s naturally interesting in a pro-consumer sort of manner. Xbox video games releasing on extra platforms signifies that much more gamers have the chance to expertise a number of the finest Xbox video games and experiences on the market. Higher but, irrespective of the console, Microsoft sees earnings from any recreation offered, which in flip can return into their pot and may also help fund the event of extra thrilling new experiences. But, with the most effective titles Microsoft has up its sleeve dropping on different platforms, and the proviso that future brand-new Xbox video games will proceed to drop day one on Sport Go, the attract of recent Xbox consoles is turning into non-existent. Why would somebody like myself wish to fork money out for a brand new Xbox when you’ve entry to their finest video games already, and presumably sooner or later too.

I’ve by no means been much less excited for the subsequent line up of Xbox {hardware}, which is a disgrace given the OG Xbox is considered one of my favourite consoles thus far. However it’s not less than undoubtedly alluring to completely Xbox gamers. A brand new era of {hardware} on its manner means extra alternatives to stretch the worth of your video games and equipment by way of backward compatibility. And, in the event you’re already a part of the Xbox {hardware} ecosystem, you possibly can proceed gathering achievements, build up your buddy record, and that spectacular digital recreation library.

Through the years, Microsoft has gone a great distance to make sure that a magnitude of older Xbox One, and Xbox 360 video games are nonetheless playable throughout the present {hardware}. And in the event you’ve simply been enjoying that vast record of video games over the many years, you then’re going to wish to proceed to get probably the most worth out of sticking with Xbox. However this shift to spreading these video games throughout platforms additionally has me fearful about whether or not or not Xbox consoles will live on in the identical manner.

As of February 2024, there have been a whopping 34 million recorded subscribers to Xbox Sport Go. Loads of this progress comes from the PC aspect of gamers, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadell stating that the PC subscriber base of Sport Go grew by 30% over the Q2 2025 fiscal 12 months, in accordance with Tom Warren of The Verge. It is a stark comparability to the lackluster gross sales of precise Xbox {hardware}, the place in accordance with VGChartz, gross sales for Xbox Collection X/S consoles in January 2025 have been down by 48.7% from January 2024. With Sport Go persevering with to be the primary success, and Microsoft specializing in releasing its video games on different platforms, a future period of purely Sport Go streaming machines being the precise Xbox Collection X follow-up wouldn’t shock me.

Microsoft hasn’t made any bulletins on the Xbox Collection X or the way forward for its console lineup, so I may not have something to fret about. Phil Spencer himself acknowledged in an interview with Bloomberg printed on November 12, 2024, that the Xbox enterprise has “by no means been extra wholesome” and that he believes there will likely be a wholesome future for Xbox “{hardware} and the video games” they launch. There’s an enormous risk that the subsequent wave of {hardware} may pull out all of the stops, and have loads to separate itself from the PS5, upcoming Nintendo Change 2, and gaming PCs.

There have been rumblings that we are able to count on to see a brand new sort of Xbox controller together with the brand new era of Xbox consoles, which I would spend money on regardless. Proper now, even the no-nonsense core Xbox Wi-fi controller is without doubt one of the finest Xbox equipment you possibly can add to your gaming setup, and one of the vital snug gamepads I’ve used due to its now iconic, ergonomic design. If we have been to see Microsoft develop its personal type of haptics to rival that of the PS5 Dualsense controller and add in some Corridor impact sticks for good measure, I would rally behind them.

For the time being, Xbox handheld rumors making the rounds apart, all of the indicators level to the truth that I’ll most likely not get a lot out of the subsequent console. That’ll be very true if Microsoft maintain plugging away at releasing its video games on different platforms, and if PC Sport Go continues to be as profitable because it presently is. Whereas this can be a little bit of a bummer for my console-loving self, I simply hope that, for individuals who don’t have the chance and means to play something however Xbox {hardware}, consoles, as they’re, received’t fade into obscurity.