The Xbox One is Trying Its Best
With amazing titles like Spider-Man and God of War releasing exclusively on the Ps4 last year, it can be pretty easy to ignore that the Xbox One even exists. Disappointing releases like State of Decay 2 and Sea of Thieves only served to cement the Xbox One’s status of a joke in the game industry. Despite all of the problems that Xbox One has, Microsoft is adamant in amending the mistakes that its made over its lifetime.
Unfortunately, the Xbox One was burdened with troublesome press a few months before its release. The initial Xbox One had plans to implement a DRM system that actively prevent people from buying used games or lending games to their friends. Following that, Microsoft had been keen on incorporating the Kinect into the Xbox One’s everyday, making it seemingly “always online”. On top of all this, the system had desperately attempted to sell itself as an all-purpose entertainment machine that also plays games which conflicted heavily with Sony’s direct approach of stating that the Ps4’s primary purpose is just to play games.The $600 initial asking price also helped in making the Xbox One less appealing for most consumers.
Though they are behind in terms of sales, Microsoft has adopted many practices that primarily benefit the consumer. The majority of their releases after 2015 would be available on both Xbox One and PC, allowing for players who’ve never bought a console to experience the games on display. They also actively supported crossplay with other systems on several large games, such as Fortnite, months before Sony allowed it on their system. The Xbox also supports a large catalog of backwards-compatible games that span both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360. While Ps4 has a similar catalog, the Xbox One has a larger library and more varied titles to offer. They also created the Xbox Game Pass which acts as a rental service for hundreds of games, including brand new AAA titles, under a low monthly price of $10 a month. Microsoft has incorporated many features and options that Sony could take a lesson from.
Though the quality of its catalog of exclusives isn’t anywhere close to Sony’s, Microsoft has released a few exemplary titles such as Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 4, Ori and the Blind Forest, Cuphead, Gears of War and Quantum Break. Microsoft has been taking active measures to fix its exclusive problem by acquiring the following companies to make future games: Compulsion Games, Playground Games, Ninja Theory, Undead Labs and The Initiative. It cannot be denied that the Xbox One suffered due to poor decisions made it by its marketing team. However, new console iterations were released to make it more convenient storage-wise and improve how games run. With talks of the next generation of gaming consoles already starting, it’s best not to forget all the efforts Microsoft made to make the Xbox One seem more appealing. Whatever product they release, people shouldn’t sleep on what Microsoft has to offer.
