It’s been six months since Xbox Series X and S landed on store shelves/gamers’ doorsteps. In that time, both consoles have given us a quite a taste of what they can do – in terms of performance and in terms of the Series’ 9th gen. features. And, perhaps more importantly, in terms of their place in the grand ecosystem plan.
So far, Microsoft’s plan works – insofar as it offers what it promised. Xbox Series X, as their flagship, is a 4K HDR monster that offers players mulitplats and Xbox One titles at their best. Its mod cons work as intended – the experience is indeed enhanced by its careful feature selection. Game Pass delivers excellent value that is only topped off with the added features and content of GP Ultimate. While performance is spotty as of now, players can access the Game Pass library from mobile through xCloud.
However, the same issues still hang around Xbox Series X – exclusivity. There are no games you can’t get anywhere else and no standout features to make Series X THE place to play multiplats and legacy titles.
Upgrade Path
Since the start of this generation last November, the few titles to give players that ‘next-gen’ feeling have been on PlayStation 5. Games designed to show off new hardware are traditionally central to a console launch. The ideal launch game captures the promise of the new system and subsequently jumpstarts a system’s appeal. Super Mario 64, Wii Sports and Halo: CE are three examples of launch games done well.
Launch line-ups are often littered with shallow experiences that are often dismissed as ‘tech demos’. But even these act to justify opening one’s purse.
To early adopters, the sheer novelty of fresh features and shiny new visuals vindicates their purchase. In the olden days, they would tell their friends; nowadays they gush about it on social media.
A Continuing Problem Becomes a Disaster at Launch
Blockbuster titles that you cannot play anywhere else are always a huge draw for any gaming platform. Xbox has seen their momentum falter over the last decade for a few reasons but their lack of attractive exclusive games is often cited as the biggest factor.
Exclusives have the power to set their platform apart from their competitors or predecessors. Sony pre-loaded a sample of what their machine could do onto every single PS5. In our review, we praised Astro’s Playroom and its inclusion as examples of the electronics giant’s immaculate attention to detail. Six months on, it’s just one of a few games that truly show the visual finery of 9th gen. hardware and act as exhibitions of console-defining features in DualSense and 3D audio.
Display of Power
Xbox Series X has so far had to rely on upgraded versions of 8th gen. titles and third-party games to woo owners of Xbox One or One X owner into upgrading. Third-party titles have mostly stuck to cross-gen releases so far; something that will only hurt the appeal of Series X more and more as time goes on. While cross-gen titles can gleam and suggest 9th gen. power, they can’t touch a title built from the ground up for this generation of console.
PS5 is ahead in 9th gen. sales by a couple of million units already. By the time third-party devs are concentrating on 9th gen. hardware, PS5 could have a significant lead.
If so, PS5 will likely be the lead development hardware for cross-platform titles and we may never see the power that Series X allegedly has outside of exclusive titles.
So far, performance advantages over PS5 are marginal. Sony’s machine has even had some significant wins in the third-party performance arms race. Arguably, PlayStation 5’s swifter loading times are probably more noticeable to the average gamer.
Risky Business
Microsoft might not need that sweet 9th gen. revenue as much as their competitors do but failing to make your new consoles feel truly necessary, especially at the dawn of its age, is asking for trouble.
Regardless of how happy Microsoft is to succeed in creating a broader Xbox ecosystem and hoovering up Games as a Service cash, at the very least it seems unwise of Microsoft to have risked alienating those dedicated enough to have bought into Series X or S early on by not guaranteeing them unmissable, exclusive content. Relying on third-party games to make early adopters feel like €499/$499 on an Xbox Series X was money well spent will backfire.
