What’s now one of the world’s most loved home consoles started out as a big company’s small hope to enter the world of gaming. Read on to learn just how they succeeded at that – and how they’ve become one of the most influential gaming giants in the industry!  

Before Gaming: A Brief History of Microsoft (Pre-2001)

Long before the gaming craze, Microsoft began as a simple software company run by two boyhood friends in Seattle. 

These two childhood buddies were Paul G. Allen and Bill Gates. In 1973, Gates was studying at Harvard University. Although he was a pre-law student, he found himself focusing far more of his energy on his true love: computer programming.

Paul Allen and Bill Gates (1981)

After moving to Boston and convincing Gates to drop out of Harvard, Allen went all in with his old friend on their joint programming efforts. 

In January of 1975, Gates and Allen reached out to the company MITS and offered to write a programming language for the company’s new PC, the Altair. MITS agreed, and the team completed the project in only 8 weeks. 

Altair 8800 Computer with 8 inch floppy disk system

On the heels of this success, the two men formed Microsoft on April 4th, 1975. They created the name by combining the words “microcomputer” and “software.”

And so, in an Albuquerque garage, Microsoft was born.  

Only 5 years after founding the company, they were hired by the tech giant IBM to develop software for their new PC. This was Microsoft’s big break. They developed the Microsoft Disc Operating System (MS-DOS) for IBM’s 1981 PC – and it was a wild success. 

Within the next 10 years, Microsoft exploded into a leader in its industry, selling over 100 million copies of their MS-DOS. 

Photo of the original Microsoft Team (1980s)

Timeline: Microsoft Before the Xbox (Pre-2001)

In 1985, Microsoft released the first version of the iconic program that it’s best known for; Windows. But it wasn’t until 1990 – with the release of Windows 3.0 – that this product really took off. 

Only 3 years after its release, Windows 3.0 was reaching sales of a million copies a month. It dominated the market, making it the best-selling operating system available. The world was officially running on Microsoft, and Bill Gates had become a household name. 

Microsoft Windows 3.0 Logo

The founders took the company public in 1986, making Bill Gates an official billionaire at only 31 years old. 

In 1995, Microsoft’s Windows 95 included the Internet Explorer 1.0, allowing users to get online with dial-up internet for the first time. 

Is Bill Gates a college dropout?

Yes – Bill Gates, one of the richest men in America, is in fact a college dropout! 

Gates left Harvard University in 1975 to pursue his love of computers with his long-time friend, Paul Allen. 

Were the founders of Microsoft childhood friends?

The founders of Microsoft, Bill Gates and Paul G. Allen, were boyhood friends who spent hours together working on computer programming projects. The two created Microsoft together in an Albuquerque garage in 1975. 

Where did the name “Microsoft” come from?

The name “Microsoft” is a combination of the words “microcomputer” and “software.”

The company was originally referred to as “Micro-soft” before being changed to “Microsoft Corporation, Inc.” in 1981. 

The Launch of Xbox: Microsoft Enters the Race (1995 - 2004)

Original Xbox and Controller

Project Midway: The Xbox is Born

The seeds for a Microsoft gaming console were planted all the way back in 1998. 

The ‘90s had been dominated by the success of Nintendo’s break-out gaming systems (to read more about the History of Nintendo, click here). In 1996, Sony’s first PlayStation console changed the industry, claiming 47% of the console market for itself. The announcement of the PlayStation 2 meant they were joining the ranks of Microsoft’s competitors for home entertainment – the PS2 was going to include a DVD and CD player, a key feature of Microsoft’s most recent PC. 

Home gaming was becoming a direct threat to the novelty of the Personal Computer. 

As the story goes, Bill Gates went directly to the CEO of Sony at the time, Noboyuki Idei, and offered to work together on Sony’s new gaming system. Gates proposed that the PS2 could run on Microsoft’s programming software – and was completely rejected. 

With no chance of working with Sony, it appeared that Microsoft needed to enter the gaming industry for themselves. 

A group of 4 engineers from Microsoft’s DirectX team (Kevin Bachus, Seamus Blackley, Ted Hase, and Otto Berkes) decided to take on the project. These men would later be credited as the creators of the Xbox. 

And so work began on what was then called the “DirectX Box.”

The approach the team took was to design a gaming console that functioned like a Personal Computer. The DirectX Box would include a hard disc drive and run on Microsoft 2000, giving it a huge advantage over Sony’s PlayStation 2 in terms of processing power. 

Microsoft had already dipped a toe into the world of gaming with their development of DirectX, a 1995 collection of APIs for Microsoft platforms. Within DirectX, The Direct3D API enabled 3D graphics to run on a computer, allowing game developers to more easily design 3D games for the PC and revolutionizing the use of booming 3D graphics technologies. DirectX saw a considerable amount of success on the Microsoft PCs, including the development of influential games like Age of Empires (1997).  

Age of Empires (1997) Title Screen

DirectX provided the entire foundation for Microsoft’s future gaming success. 

Bachus, Blackley, Hase, and Berkes spearheaded the project which became known under the codename “Midway,” in reference to the World War II battle in which the US was finally victorious against the Japanese. 

Eventually, the name of the console was changed to the much catchier “Xbox.” And that wasn’t the only change that was made along the way.

Much to the dismay of Bill Gates, the Xbox ultimately did not run on Windows. The Xbox would require something much faster and more streamlined, and so it instead became a fully DirectX-based system. Midway project manager J. Allard would later recall, “I think that was the closest Bill ever got to strangling me.”

Surprisingly, Gates was also reluctant to make high-speed internet access via ethernet a major feature of the console. This genius move (courtesy of Kevin Bachus) ended up being a defining aspect of the machine – and also saving Microsoft over $200 million in modem costs.   

Only two years after the Xbox mission was launched, Microsoft was ready to announce their console. 

At the 2000 Game Developers Conference in San Jose, Bill Gates himself revealed the Microsoft Xbox, which would be hitting shelves the following year. Gates drew the public’s attention to the Xbox Live feature which would allow users to play with their friends online, as well as to the internal hard drive’s ability to download content directly onto the device. 

Bill Gates at Game Developers Conference (2000)

Overall, the new console was received quite well by the world – but some were still convinced it was nothing more than a PC in a new form. 

Who were the “Four Musketeers” of the Xbox?

The original team and Microsoft that began work on the first Xbox were known as the “Four Musketeers.” These men were Kevin Bachus, Seamus Blackley, Ted Hase, and Otto Berkes.

Berkes, a computer graphics specialist on the DirectX team, was the first to propose building a gaming machine with PC technology that could rival the PS2. 

What was the codename for the Xbox development project?

Microsoft used the codename Project Midway for the original Xbox project. The name was a playful reference to the Battle of Midway in World War II, which was an important victory for the USA against the Japanese (a metaphor for their hopeful success over Sony’s PlayStation 2). 

Why did Microsoft decide to create a gaming console?

Microsoft’s push into the gaming industry came from Sony’s announcement that the PS2 would be far more than just a gaming device – it would be a new form of all-around home entertainment. This meant it would rival Microsoft’s Personal Computers, which had become their best-selling products.

With this threat looming large, Microsoft’s only options were to allow new consoles to push their products out of the market, or enter the race for themselves. 

What was DirectX?

Although they had no explicit gaming consoles before the original Xbox, Microsoft had already dabbled in PC gaming. 

One of the most significant outcomes of this dabbling was DirectX, a collection of APIs including one that allowed for 3D graphics to run on a PC, meaning that game developers could easily create 3D games for the Microsoft computers. 

This DirectX technology became the foundation on which the Xbox was built. 

Xbox Game Studios

Even before Microsoft began flirting with the idea of their own gaming console, they had dipped a toe into the world of gaming by publishing PC games in the 1990s.

The most well-known of these was Microsoft Flight Simulator, the first of which was released for the IBM PC in 1982. Several packs of minigames were also released for Windows over the years, as well as Microsoft Golf. In 1992, the company began expanding the division and looking for developers to work with, acquiring several development companies.

Microsoft Flight Simulator (1982)

In March of 2000, in conjunction with Project Midway and the upcoming Xbox release, the company officially established the Microsoft Games division (later renamed the Microsoft Games Studio, or MGS). 

As the now-1,000-person-team geared up for the release of the Xbox, they began scouting for a game that would be released with the console. Ed Fries, VP of MGS at the time, found a small developer based out of Chicago who was working on a game they called Halo. Microsoft soon bought out this company, Bungie, for $30 million. 

This little acquisition attracted the attention – and anger – of a certain Steve Jobs, since Halo had been a major Mac game. 

Nonetheless, the acquisition went through, making Halo an Xbox title which has since become one of the best-known and best-selling video game franchises of all time.

Halo: Combat Evolved (2001) Title Screen

The Halo games are a series of first-person shooter games within the military science fiction genre. Taking place in the 26th century, the gameplay focuses on human combat against an alien race known as the Covenant. The protagonist of the game, Master Chief, has become one of the most recognizable video game characters of all time. His artificial intelligence, Cortana, has since become integrated into Microsoft products.   

MGS hit another big break in their 2004 deal with Lionhead Studios, developer of the role-playing game series Fable. Set in the fictional Medieval Kingdom of Albion, the game revolves around the life of a young boy who is orphaned when his village is attacked by bandits. The player watches the protagonist grow to adulthood and makes decisions that affect the outcomes of the game and even the player’s appearance. 

Fable (2004) Title Screen

Two years later, MGS acquired Lionhead and secured their hold on the Fable series, releasing a sequel for the Xbox 360 in 2008. Both Fable games were great commercial successes for Microsoft, ranking among the top-selling games for the Xbox and Xbox 360 and receiving critical acclaim from fans and critics. 

MGS would go on to produce the blockbuster hit Minecraft, purchase the intellectual property rights to Gears of War and the Rise of series, and acquire Activision Blizzard in 2022. In 2019, they changed their name to Xbox Game Studios, under which they continue to operate today.

When was Xbox Game Studios created?

Although Microsoft had a small group within their company dedicated to game development, the full-blown game studio was not established until 2000, in preparation for the release of the Xbox. 

Originally named Microsoft Games (and later Microsoft Games Studio, or MGS), the group changed their name to Xbox Game Studios in 2019 in order to be more closely associated with the Xbox gaming consoles. 

What is the most successful game from Xbox Game Studios?

Xbox Game Studios’ most successful project has been the Halo franchise, a series of first-person shooter games within the military science fiction genre. The first Halo game to be released for Microsoft was Halo: Combat Evolved (2001) for the Xbox, which became the second-best-selling Xbox game after Halo 2 (2004). 

Which developers has Xbox Game Studios acquired?

Over the years, Microsoft has bought out and acquired dozens of studios. Some of the most notable acquisitions include:

• 343 Industries (2000) – creators of Halo 
• The Coalition (2014) – creators of Gears of War 
• Mojang Studios (2019) – creators of Minecraft 
• Playground Games (2018) – creators of Fable and Forza Horizon 
• Activision Blizzard (2023) – creators of Call of Duty, Overwatch, Warcraft, StarCraft, and more 

What is Minecraft?

Minecraft (2011) Title

Minecraft is a game originally released by Xbox Game Studios in 2011 which has since become the #1 best-selling video game of all time. It falls within the genre of sandbox games and is characterized by creative gameplay in which players extract materials and manipulate the three-dimensional world to their will.    

To date, Minecraft has sold 300 million copies and has 140 million monthly active players.  

Releasing the Xbox

The final design of the Xbox was revealed at the 2001 Consumer Electronics Show In Las Vegas by Bill Gates and – for added coolness – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. 

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (Left) and Bill Gates (Right) at the Consumer Electronics Show (2001)

The release was slated for Fall 2001, to compete with the recently launched Sony PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo GameCube. At the 2001 E3 event, Xbox titles were announced including Halo (2001) and Dead or Alive 3 (2001).  

The Microsoft Xbox was officially launched on November 15, 2001, with the first consoles being handed out at the Times Square location of Toys R Us in New York City. 

Bill Gates giving out Xbox at Toys R Us in NYC (2001)

The Xbox was priced at $299 and sold 1 million copies in the first three weeks alone. The Xbox-exclusive Halo set a new standard for first-person shooters and sold 1 million copies within months of its release. 

Popular Xbox Games Ranked by Sales

Due to slow sales in the international market, Microsoft brought the Xbox price down to $199 only a few months after its debut – and outsold the Nintendo GameCube as a result. Xbox Live was launched on the one-year anniversary of the November release, allowing for an online multiplayer experience that became a fan-favorite Xbox feature. Xbox Live earned 150,000 subscribers in its first week alone. 

The Xbox ended up selling over 24 million copies in total, winning out in the console war over Nintendo’s GameCube and Sega’s Dreamcast (although the PS2 vastly outsold them all, as the best-selling video game console of all time). 

Despite its commercial success, Microsoft still lost over $4 billion due to the Xbox’s high manufacturing costs. 

The Xbox was discontinued in 2005 – and Microsoft’s next big venture was announced. 

When was the Xbox released?

Microsoft released the first Xbox on November 15, 2001. Bill Gates himself was present for the release at the Times Square Toys R Us in New York City, handing out the first consoles. 

This launch came almost a full year after Sony’s PlayStation 2 hit the market, which ended up far outselling the Xbox. 

Was the Xbox a commercial success?

The original Xbox sold 1 million units in the first three weeks on the market and ultimately sold over 24 million units before being discontinued.

While it did relatively well in terms of sales, it was not actually profitable for Microsoft and resulted in a $4 billion loss for the company. 

What are the console wars?

The “console wars” refer to the competition between gaming consoles released by several companies around the same time frame, commonly grouped as a single “generation” of consoles.

The biggest competitors are typically Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, with the first two being especially competitive due to the similarity of their audience and overlapping home entertainment market. 

Who won the sixth-generation console war?

Microsoft’s first Xbox competed with the Sony PlayStation 2, the Nintendo GameCube, and the Sega Dreamcast for 2000-2001 home entertainment sales. 

In the end, the PlayStation 2 far outsold them all. Selling a record 155 million units, the PS2 remains the best-selling home gaming console of all time. 

Generation 2: The Xbox 360 Era (2005 – 2013)

Xbox 360 (2005)

New Horizons: The 360 is Announced

In early-2000s fashion, Microsoft announced their next console in a 2005 MTV special titled MTV Presents Xbox: The Next Generation Revealed. The program broadcasted the launch party held in Hollywood, California and hosted by The Lord of the Rings actor Elijah Wood (Microsoft clearly knew their audience). The Killers performed to a crowd of Microsoft employees and A-listers including Tony Hawk and Lil John. 

This was the first of the seventh-generation gaming consoles to go public – and was slated to hit the market over a year before the Nintendo Wii and the Sony PlayStation 3. 

Planning for the Xbox 360 had begun back in 2003, when the console was still known to Microsoft employees as the “Xenon” or “Xbox Next.” Microsoft Vice President J. Allard (whose name you will recognize from Project Midway) spearheaded the project. 

The Xbox’s successor would be a major improvement on the first console, with better graphics, double the storage capacity, and 800% more memory than the first generation. 

The new console also featured the launch of Xbox Live Marketplace. For the first time, users could purchase and download games directly from the internet – without a physical disc. The online marketplace revolutionized the concept of video game ownership and propelled Microsoft into the future of gaming. 

The internet capabilities of the 360 expanded past gaming into music and television streaming (known as Xbox Music and Xbox Video, respectively). Users could also use third-party applications and even stream from local PC’s. 

The 360 would be more than just a gaming console – it would be an all-around entertainment system.  

What was Xbox Live Marketplace? 

Xbox Live Marketplace

Xbox Live Marketplace (now known as Xbox Games Store) was launched with the Xbox 360 in 2005 as an online platform on which users could purchase digital games, game add-ons, and other content for the 360. It also launched for the Xbox One in 2013 and has since merged into the Microsoft Store.  

What made the Xbox 360 different?

The 360 was designed as an all-around entertainment device that would launch gaming consoles into the future with online access and streaming via third-party applications.

It also featured better graphics and far more storage than the original Xbox, in addition to digital game downloads from the Xbox Live Marketplace.   

Launch of the 360: Successes & (Technical) Failures

The Xbox 360 was released on November 22nd, 2005. 18 launch titles were released along with the system, including Call of Duty 2 (2005), Madden NFL 06 (2005), and Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005). 

Popular Xbox 360 Games Ranked by Sales

The launch of the 360 was a massive success. The console sold out everywhere (except Japan), resulting in shortages due to high demand for the product. By the end of 2005, 1.5 million units had been sold worldwide. Although the PS3 would eventually go on to outsell the Xbox 360, the console’s popularity gave Microsoft a leg up in the 2nd iteration of the Microsoft versus Sony versus Nintendo console war. 

But, as users soon found, the 360 was not without its flaws.

Shortly after the international release of the product, the major issue with the system revealed itself: the infamous Red Ring of Death. 

Photo of Xbox's Red Ring of Death

This notorious malfunction was named after the three red lights that would appear around the console’s power button in response to a system error. This wasn’t the only technical failure of the 360 – by 2009, the console had a reported failure rate of 23.7%, with some estimates reaching as high as 54.2%. Games would freeze with no explanation, discs would become scratched in the machine, the console would “brick” (or become corrupted and stop working) in response to updates – the list of technical difficulties goes on.

Microsoft was forced to make amends for 360 buyers, extending the system’s warranty in addition to countless repairs and machine replacements. 

Despite its technical issues, the 360 was still considered a massive success – and remains a fan-favorite console today. 

Was the Xbox 360 launch successful?

The Xbox 360 experienced immediate success when it launched, selling out in almost every country of release and causing shortages in a major failure to keep up with demand. In the span of around 5 weeks, the 360 sold over 1.5 million units. 

What was the Red Ring of Death?

The Red Ring of Death (RRoD) was the nickname given to a common system failure of the Xbox 360. The name refers to the three red lights that would appear around the console’s power button, which was often accompanied by graphical problems like freeze-ups in the middle of gameplay. 

Who won the seventh-generation console war?

The winner of the 2nd console war is somewhat up for debate. 

The Xbox 360 was extremely successful but ultimately was outsold by the PS3, which shipped out 87.4 million units over its lifetime versus the 360’s 84 million (many of which were replacements for faulty machines). The Nintendo Wii outsold them both with 101 million units shipped. 

Some claim the Xbox to have won due to it being a fan-favorite and instant classic console, while others point to the PS3’s 10% failure rate versus the 360’s 50% as being a major decider of Microsoft’s defeat.  

A New Fan Favorite: 360 Features & Successors

A major aspect of the Xbox 360 gaming experience was the Gamerscore system. Unveiled for the first time at the 2005 E3 event, this was a kind of reward system in which players would earn “achievements” for completing specific tasks or reaching certain milestones in a game. These achievements would earn players Gamerscore points that increased their individual Gamerscore, which was displayed with a player’s Gamertag (username) on Xbox Live. 

Photo of Xbox's Achievement Unlocked Logo

The 360 was the first console to introduce a network-wide achievement system that extended beyond a single game. 

The Gamerscore system was such a success among players that it created an ecosystem of its own, with internet blogs dedicated to collecting achievements and users competing to increase their score on the Xbox Live Network. 

In addition to the achievement system, the 360 featured accessories like wireless controllers, removable hard drives with expanded storage, and memory unit slots – not to mention the infamous Kinect. 

Following Nintendo’s successful venture into motion sensing technology with the Wii, Microsoft developed a motion detector accessory for the Xbox 360 known as the Kinect. The idea was to go one step beyond its competitors by introducing motion-sense gaming that didn’t require a remote but rather a camera that detected body movement directly. 

Developed under the secret codename Project Natal, the Kinect was finally revealed to the public at the 2009 E3 event. Microsoft released the product the following year at a price of $150 and saw immediate commercial success, selling 8 million units in the first two months on the market (a sales milestone which earned them the Guinness World Record for “fastest-selling consumer device”).  

Microsoft went on to release two successor consoles to the 360: The Xbox 360 S (2010) and the Xbox 360 E (2013).

Xbox 360 S / Slim

The Xbox 360 S or Slim was an upgrade to the machine which featured a more compact body and a quieter fan, as well as an input for the Kinect. The Xbox 360 E differed from the 360 S in being even slimmer and quieter. Its design was updated to match its third-generation successor, the long-anticipated Xbox One. 

Although the Xbox 360 was discontinued in 2016, it lives on in our hearts (and our homes) as one of the most beloved video game consoles of all time. Influential game series like Grand Theft Auto, Elder Scrolls, Bioshock, and Red Dead Redemption helped solidify the place of the 360 in gaming history, and despite the success of newer consoles, the 360 may never be topped in the eyes of the gaming community. 

Over the course of its lifetime, the 360 sold over 84 million units across all models – making it Microsoft’s best-selling console to date. 

What are the best Xbox 360 games?

In addition to record sales numbers, the Xbox 360 featured some of the most beloved and critically acclaimed games and game series of all time.

Some of these include: 

• Mass Effect (2007)
• Bioshock (2007)
• Portal (2007) & Portal 2 (2011)
• Halo 3 (2007) & Halo 4 (2012)
• Fallout 3 (2008)
• Red Dead Redemption (2010)
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011)
• Dark Souls (2011)
• Batman: Arkham City (2011)

What was the Gamerscore system?

A major aspect of the Xbox 360, the Gamerscore system was an achievement-based reward system that provided Gamerscore points to users for completing certain milestones in games. A user’s Gamerscore could be seen on Xbox Live displayed with their Gamertag (username)

What is Microsoft’s best-selling console of all time?

The Xbox 360 is Microsoft’s best-selling gaming console to date, with over 84 million units shipped. It is the 9th best-selling gaming console of all time (with #1 being Sony’s PlayStation 2). 

Why was the Xbox 360 so popular?

The Xbox 360 remains one of the best-performing and most beloved gaming consoles of all time. 

A large part of this comes down to the volume of high-quality third-party games that were released for the 360, as well as the fact that it got to the market a year before the other seventh-generation consoles. 

The 360 also featured a competitive price point at $299 (versus $499 for the PS3), which allowed for more people to afford and prefer this console. 

Generation 3: The Xbox One Era (2013 – 2020) 

Xbox One (2013)

At the 2013 E3 event, Microsoft revealed their newest design for the next wave of gaming consoles: the Xbox One (project codename: Durango). 

This eighth-generation console was meant to revolutionize home entertainment by being an all-in-one (hence the name) device for gaming, music, television, internet access, etc. However, taking this angle towards their new product seemed to do more harm than good for Microsoft. Their audience was never looking for a television streaming device, and even Microsoft employees complained that the lack of emphasis on the gaming aspects of the product didn’t properly portray the “soul” of the Xbox. 

In addition to their own internal blunders, Microsoft faced heavy competition in 2013. 

Sony’s PlayStation 4 turned out to be massively successful, more than doubling Microsoft’s Xbox One sales. Praised by critics for being a far better product than the Xbox One – and $100 cheaper – the PS4 would end up being the second best-selling home console of all time (after Sony’s PS2). 

When it came to the console wars, Microsoft was undeniably defeated by Sony’s eighth-generation masterpiece. 

Released on November 22nd, 2013, the Xbox One was priced at a whopping $499 (with Kinect included). The product sold over one million consoles in the first 24 hours. 

Xbox One launch first consoles (2013)

Xbox One Features & Controversy 

Notable features of the Xbox One include:

• Kinect 2.0 – an updated motion-sensor system with an improved tracking interface and voice commands. (The Kinect was at first included in a bundle with the device but was later removed and sold as an optional add-on.) 
• Multimedia features – users could now easily switch between gaming and watching live TV by streaming on third-party apps like Netflix and Hulu.
• Online integration & cloud access –allows users to save games, music, films, and more on the cloud through their Xbox. 
• Xbox Game Pass – a subscription service launched in 2017 that allows users to pay a set price for access to a rotating library of downloadable games. 
• Backward compatibility – users could now play Xbox 360 or even original Xbox games on their new device via either physical disc or digital download. 
• Sleek design
• Improved controller 

During their promotion of the Xbox One, Microsoft came under fire for a Digital Rights Management (DRM) scheme they announced. Under this DRM protocol, any game purchased (physically or digitally) would be connected to the user’s Xbox Live account. This meant that sharing and re-selling games would be made extremely difficult, if not impossible. Under this scheme, players would have to keep their Xbox connected to the internet for daily licensing authentication—or else all their games would be disabled. 

Naturally, Xbox fans didn’t react well to this news.

Microsoft ended up reversing this controversial decision and giving in to their audience, making all games re-sharable and re-sellable (“just like the 360,” in their own words) prior to the launch.

21 launch titles accompanied the release of the Xbox One, including Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013), Battlefield 4 (2013), Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013), FIFA 14 (2013), and NBA2K14 (2013). 

Popular Xbox One Games Ranked by Sales

What made the Xbox One different?

The Xbox One was a new-and-improved entertainment system that featured an updated Kinect sensor, a sleeker design, access to the cloud, backward compatibility to play older games, and the option to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass. 

The design of the machine itself was also sleeker and slimmer than the previous model, with an improved controller. 

What was the Xbox One DRM Controversy?

Prior to the release of the Xbox One, Microsoft found itself under fire for the Digital Rights Management scheme they announced which would prevent Xbox users from sharing games by connecting each purchased game to a specific Xbox Live account. This proposed scheme faced major backlash and was ultimately reversed in response. 

What are the best Xbox One games? 

Although the Xbox One was seen as somewhat of a failure in comparison to the success of the Xbox 360, there are still many critically acclaimed games for the One.

These include:

• Grand Theft Auto V (2013)
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
• Metal Gear Solid 5 (2015)
• Overwatch (2016)
• Fortnite (2017)
• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (2018)
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)

Introducing the X & S: Xbox One Successors

Xbox One and Xbox One S size comparison

In 2016, Microsoft released the Xbox One S as a slight update to the console. This was followed up in 2019 with the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, which sold at a lower price and did not include a disc drive. 

A higher-end successor to the Xbox One was revealed at the 2016 E3 event (codename: “Project Scorpio”) which was released in 2017 as the Xbox One X. The X model of the Xbox One console included improved hardware and graphics with 4K gaming resolution and increased storage for games. 

In the end, the Xbox One proved to be somewhat of a disappointment to Microsoft fans expecting more after the success of the 360. Overshadowed by the PlayStation 4 and impeded by Microsoft’s own marketing failures, the Xbox One will be remembered simply as a decent successor to the true fan-favorite console. 

What made the Xbox One S & X different?

The Xbox One S & X were released as updated improvements to the Xbox One.

The Xbox One S (Slim) was a sleeker model that was also released in an all-digital form.

The Xbox One X featured upgraded graphics and increased storage. 

Who won the eighth-generation console wars?

In terms of sales, Sony far outcompeted Microsoft in the third-round console war between the two companies.

The Sony PlayStation 4 shipped over 117 million units, while the Xbox One shipped out only around 58 million units. Nintendo’s WiiU fell far behind both at only 13.56 million units sold. 

Generation 4: The Xbox Series X Era (2020 – Present) 

Xbox Series S (2020)

Back in 2018, rumors of Microsoft’s newest Xbox console (codename: “Scarlett”) began circulating, with confirmation coming at E3 in 2019.

The final design wasn’t unveiled until the 2019 Game Awards, at which the Xbox Series X was finally shown to a public eager for an improvement on the Xbox One. For this generation, two consoles would be released: a high-end model (codename: “Anaconda”) and a more affordable model similar to the Xbox One generation (codename: “Lockhart”). CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer claimed it would set the bar for performance as the fastest and most powerful Xbox yet. 

Despite setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both the Xbox Series X (priced at $499) and the Xbox Series S (priced at $299) were released on November 10, 2020 – with astonishing success.

The fourth-generation launch was the biggest Xbox release in history, with more units sold in the first 24 hours than any Microsoft console to date. As of July 2023, the Series X & S have sold an estimated 21 million units, with the more affordable Series S bringing in more new Xbox players than any console before. 

31 new titles were made available at launch, in addition to a library of games from previous generations playable with full backward compatibility for the Xbox One and select games available for the Xbox 360 and even the original Xbox.  

An updated 1 TB version of the Xbox Series X was released in November of 2023. On June 9th, 2024, it was announced that Microsoft will release a wave of updated consoles for the 2024 holiday season. These will include a 1 TB all-digital Xbox Series S in robot white, a 1 TB all-digital Xbox Series X in robot white, and a 2 TB Xbox Series X (with disc drive) in galaxy black. 

Was the Xbox Series X launch successful?

The release of the Xbox Series X resulted in the biggest Xbox launch in Microsoft history.

The console was an instant success, setting a record for the most units sold in the first 24 hours on the market.  

Although the official numbers have not been released, it is estimated that 21 million units of the Xbox Series X had been sold by July of 2023. 

What are the best Xbox Series X games?

Although it has only been on the market for a couple of years, many Xbox Series X games have already experienced a huge amount of popularity and received critical acclaim.

Some of these include:

• Cyberpunk 2077 (2020)
• Forza Horizon 5 (2021)
• Halo Infinite (2021)
• Elden Ring (2022)
• Alan Wake 2 (2023)
• Baldur’s Gate 3 (2023)
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (2023)

Will future Xbox consoles have a game disc slot?

While the Xbox Series X still features a disc slot, Microsoft and other gaming companies seem to be moving away from physical games and towards all-digital systems like the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X all-digital editions, coming at the end of 2024. 

Microsoft Gaming Consoles Through Time

Sources & Further Reading

The History Of Microsoft – Feedough

Power On: The Story of Xbox: New docuseries explores the origins of Xbox and its evolution over 20 years - Source

Every Xbox Console: A Full History of Release Dates - IGN

Game of X v.2 | The Long Road to Xbox | Rusel DeMaria | Taylor & Franc

The making of the Xbox: How Microsoft unleashed a video game revolution (part 1) | Page 3 of 6 | VentureBeat

The History of the Xbox | Digital Trends

Game Studies - The Achievement Machine: Understanding Xbox 360 Achievements in Gaming Practices

The Xbox 360 Uncloaked: Chronology of Xbox History, 2002 | A+E Interactive

Timeline: A look back at Kinect's history - CNET

Tales In Tech History: Microsoft Kinect

History of Microsoft Xbox Consoles - Record Head

Phil Spencer Reflects On What Went Wrong With The Xbox One Launch - GameSpot

Xbox One is Biggest Launch in Xbox History: More Than One Million Consoles Sold in less than 24 hours - Xbox Wire

Xbox One is a Failure, History of a Generation – Westaby Home

Xbox One Release: A Look Back At The History Of The Console - GadgetMates

Xbox 180: Microsoft Fully Reverses Xbox One's DRM Policies | WIRED

Xbox One DRM restrictions dropped after gamer outcry | Games | The Guardian

Xbox Series X/S Debut Was the Biggest Xbox Launch in History | Tom's Hardware

New Xbox consoles: Microsoft announces three new models coming in 2024 | The Independent

"It Was Sickening," Former Xbox Boss Says About Xbox 360's Red Ring of Death - GameSpot

Microsoft is born - Stories

Power On: The Story of Xbox: New docuseries explores the origins of Xbox and its evolution over 20 years - Source

Photo of Paul Allen and Bill Gates, 1981

Person Holding Black Xbox One Controller- Pexels

Microsoft Xbox Series S- Pexels

Xbox One S- Xbox Wiki