Xbox 2021: Microsofts ambitious gamble has finally paid off on Xbox Series X/S

Date:
Thu, 30 Dec 2021 17:00:22 +0000

Description:
Microsofts strategy to focus on Xbox Game Pass, PC, and cloud gaming has reaped dividends for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S owners in 2021.

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2021 has been an outstanding year for Xbox. Its been a long time coming, but the investments Microsoft made way back in 2016 have finally come to fruition this year and Xbox gamers are reaping the benefits.

Weve seen the power of Xbox Game Pass in full force in 2021, with critically acclaimed first-party games such as Microsoft Flight Simulator , Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5 , and Halo Infinite all arriving on day one on Microsofts subscription service.

Xbox Game Pass has also secured numerous indie darlings such as Unpacking and Hades over the course of the year, as well as notable third-party day one releases like Back 4 Blood , Outriders , and MLB The Show 2021, all of which help hammer home that Xbox Game Pass is a must-have add on for any Xbox owners. Playing the long game (Image credit: Xbox)

Microsofts success may seem like its primarily down to Xbox Game Pass and simply having a lineup of great titles this year, then and of course, thats been a huge factor but its actually much more than that. Whats really helped elevate Xbox to the next level is the calculated gambles and investments that took place during the early tumultuous years of the Xbox One generation, many of which raised eyebrows in the gaming community at the time.

In 2016, Microsoft began by announcing Xbox Play Anywhere , a cross-buy program that let users buy a game once and play them on Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs. This was the start of Microsofts push to make Xbox and PC gaming more homogenous, something which has now become a reality in 2021.

However, the main catalyst for Microsofts success came in 2017. Xbox Game
Pass was revealed, a subscription service that lets users access hundreds of games for a monthly fee, and the service has grown substantially since its release.

The biggest change that undoubtedly propelled Xbox Game Pass to new heights came in March 2018, when Microsoft announced that all first-party titles
would hit the service on day one. This began with Sea of Thieves , and Rares game would soon be joined by titles such as State of Decay 2, Gears 5 , Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Doom Eternal , and Ori and the Will of the Wisps to name but a few. For many, getting access to Microsofts first-party lineup alone is enough to keep their subscription running. Xbox and PC combine
forces (Image credit: Microsoft)

2019 was the year Xbox Game Pass come to PC and coincided with the arrival of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate , a premium tier subscription service that gives gamers access to both Xbox Game Pass on console and PC, but also various perks, exclusive discounts, and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

However, the more significant announcement for PC owners came in October
2020. Head of Xbox Phil Spencer revealed that every Xbox title developed by Microsofts Xbox Game Studios would also come to PC as well as console. This led many to speculate that people wouldnt buy an Xbox console as the games would all be available on PC moving forward but as Spencer put it at the
time: I believe great games should be able to be played by as many people as possible. Power of the cloud (Image credit: Microsoft)

And its this objective opening up the Xbox ecosystem to as many people as possible that Microsoft has seen pay off in 2021. Its changed the conversation and direction from how many units of hardware its sold, to how many people are playing Xbox games and subscribing to Xboxs services. For instance, Xbox Game Pass had 18 million subscribers in January 2021, a number that youd expect has only continued to rise substantially in the months
since.

Removing the need for people to own a single box to play the likes of Halo or Sea of Thieves means that massive player numbers can be achieved, especially because of Xbox Cloud Gaming. The mobile market is, to put it lightly, an extraordinary opportunity for Microsoft to capitalize on, with billions of players having access to a smartphone. Being able to play a comprehensive library of titles anywhere that has an internet connection is a game-changer.

By allowing gamers to play Xbox games on console, PC, or via the cloud, Forza Horizon 5 was able to achieve astonishing player numbers over 10 million players in one week which simply wouldnt have been possible if the game was an Xbox Series X/S exclusive. But what else did 2021 bring for Xbox fans? (Image credit: Microsoft)

So Microsofts strategy is now clear for all to see, but that didnt stop the company from also adding a ton of new features to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S in 2021. We saw the dashboard go from 1080p to 4K on Xbox Series X , Dolby Vision gaming support was added, and cloud gaming even came to consoles
meaning those who own an Xbox One can play Gen 9 exclusive games like The Medium on their box from 2013.

Microsoft also revealed FPS Boost in 2021, which bumped the frame rate of older titles to 60fps or 120fps, and added over 70 new titles to its backward compatibility program in November. We also a number of Xbox One titles get free Xbox Series X/S optimizations, including Destiny 2, Doom Eternal, and Hellblade.

Xbox is in a strong position going into 2022, then, with more momentum behind the brand than weve seen since the halcyon days of the Xbox 360 . If
Microsoft can keep delivering high-quality games and adding innovative new features, the dark early years of the Xbox One launch will soon feel like a distant memory. Xbox Series X vs Xbox One X : is it worth the upgrade?



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/xbox-2021-microsofts-ambitious-gamble-has-final ly-paid-off-on-xbox-series-xs/


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