Xbox Series X

Description

The Xbox Series X presents itself as a powerful successor in Microsoft’s console line, designed around fast load times, high frame rates, and support for 4K resolution. Its physical design is a tall, rectangular tower, housing hardware that emphasises speed and stability. The system did not rely on a single showcase title but instead launches with access to the entire Xbox One back catalogue, enhanced versions of select titles, and new releases available simultaneously across both generations. Like the PlayStation 5, the shift to NVMe SSD storage made the biggest architectural change to game development. In addition, unlike the prior generation, both companies featured competent CPUs at launch that would not hamstring the industry for another decade.

At launch in late-2020, the console launch was highlighted with Halo: The Master Chief Collection with optimised updates from the PC version, Gears 5 with visual enhancements, and cross‑generation releases such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Watch Dogs: Legion. It also featured Yakuza: Like a Dragon as a timed exclusive in the West, positioning the system as a platform for both established franchises and new entries. The emphasis was on continuity, with Smart Delivery ensuring players could access the best version of a game regardless of hardware.

The Series X launched effectively alongside the similar PlayStation 5, with relative spec-parity. Both were in great demand, although the PS5 was clearly the more popular option, the malaise from the Xbox One launch still tainted the brand. I was stuck in different locations for months due to the global circumstances at these consoles’ launches, as such I unintentionally had to purchase, sell, and repurchase about three of these in their first year. An unusual time indeed: initially purchased for very little by trading in prior systems for more than I originally paid, only to sell these for at or above their retail price, as years later the retail price only increased over time.

Reception at launch praised the hardware’s speed, quiet operation, and backward compatibility, while noting the absence of a single defining exclusive at launch. Retrospectively, the Series X was solid hardware but its success reflects Microsoft’s ecosystem and business competency. The Game Pass integration and cross‑platform play shaping slowly shaped its identity, and irrelevance. Although the Xbox had slight superiority on paper in this generation this wouldn’t eventuate in reality. The PS5 performed better, sold substantially more, had at least a small number of exclusives, with third party developers actively avoiding the Xbox in some cases. In its later years it became apparent that this would be the final Xbox as people understood the concept, as a console.