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On November 10, Microsoft will release the Xbox Series X/S, officially transitioning Xbox into the next generation. Sure, Microsoft plans on supporting cross-gen for the first few years of the Xbox Series X/S lifecycle, but we’re not getting a new Xbox One–that chapter is coming to a close. With that in mind, we figured it’s time to take a look back and dig into how Microsoft handled the Xbox One, from its bumbling beginnings to its far better-received end.

There are plenty of fond memories when it comes to Xbox: late-night sessions of SWAT on Halo: Reach‘s Sword Base, lunchtime conversations about the latest indie darling to be promoted on Xbox Live Arcade, and lazy summers spent unlocking Achievements. But even we were left bewildered by how Microsoft tried to initially pitch the Xbox One as an entertainment hub. Plenty of us still bought one, of course (I mean, c’mon, did you see that Titanfall reveal trailer? Freakin’ dope is what it was), but Microsoft’s initial pitch led to a rather poor start for the Xbox One. It’s a mishap that we’re still not wholly convinced the Xbox brand has completely recovered from–going into next gen, it still feels like Xbox has work to do in order to become truly competitive with PlayStation again.

Despite that poor start (or perhaps, because of it), Microsoft has pursued new ways to put games into players’ hands and made several excellent strides with Xbox One in the past few years. Xbox One may still trail behind PS4 in terms of popularity, but that doesn’t remove the fact that Xbox has grown in favor since launch. There have still been missteps, the biggest being the overall lack of first-party titles and console exclusives, but Xbox has at least made an effort to address these concerns going into next gen.

New Iterations, But Little Choice

Beyond the standard Xbox One that launched in 2013, Microsoft released three other versions of the console. 2016’s Xbox One S is a smaller version of the original console that supports 4K video playback, sees a minor improvement in game performance (though not for all games), and upscales games from 1080p to 4K. It isn’t true 4K, though. That would come the following year with 2017’s Xbox One X, which does support true 4K and buffs the overall hardware of the Xbox for a more substantial improvement in game performance. In 2019, Microsoft launched the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, which is basically a standard One S without a disc drive.

New iterations of the Xbox One produced mixed results. Releasing the relatively cheap Xbox One S All-Digital Edition was a nice step forward in terms of affordability, though the console came out way too late in the Xbox One’s lifecycle for it to be an inclusive option for low-income households that may struggle to buy next-gen consoles within the first year.

Additionally, though having claim to the most powerful console on the market (Xbox One X) is a nice position for advertising–and games do look really good on One X–Microsoft didn’t have many first-party titles to show off just how powerful the console is. It’s also a bit unfortunate that Xbox One X seemingly became the new standard for the Xbox One console, instead of acting as a higher-end option for those looking to take advantage of their 4K televisions. Though the original Xbox One and One S can run most games just fine–just at a much lower pixel count and frame rate than the Xbox One X–there’s still a noticeable drop-off in performance for certain titles. A somewhat recent example is 2019’s Control: on an original Xbox One, the game will usually stutter when there’s a hectic fight and a lot of debris being thrown around, but the game performs closer to how you would hope on Xbox One X. Similar to the situation we see with PS4 and PS4 Pro, it often feels as if the lower-powered consoles are not up to snuff, leaving only those with the more expensive hardware to have something approaching an ideal experience.

As a result, several of the larger games from the past few years have rendered the original Xbox One outdated. This practice screws over early adopters who can’t afford to upgrade multiple times in a generation–a practice that is more common on PC (though, admittedly, becoming more common in the console space). Consoles have traditionally been the affordable and approachable option for people looking to get into gaming. This console generation was a shift in that line of thinking for Xbox, as upgrading to the Xbox One X felt like the only way to play certain Xbox One games and have an ideal experience. Whether this becomes a new trend for Microsoft remains to be seen. It’s pushing out two next-gen consoles at once, one of which is more powerful than the other, but we won’t know if the weaker Xbox Series S ultimately can’t keep with next-generation games for a while. And Microsoft might handle console upgrades differently in the next console generation anyway.

Ditching Bad Gimmicks

Players weren’t afforded many opportunities to use Xbox One’s Kinect all that much. Personally, I think the only time I regularly used it was for yelling at the Netflix app that, yes, I was indeed still using it to watch Criminal Minds even though it had been five hours–quit judging me, Netflix. However, with most games forgoing any Kinect support, pretty much the only reason to keep the accessory connected to your Xbox One was to scan in DLC expansions and digital games–it was far easier to just hold up a QR code to a camera than type in a bunch of random letters and numbers. But that’s really it; the Kinect was abandoned after only a few years. It was an expensive add-on with little purpose, despite Microsoft making it mandatory to include the Kinect with every Xbox One. Remember that? How, once upon a time, you couldn’t even buy an Xbox One without getting a Kinect too?

Which is our long way of saying that Microsoft did well to ditch the Kinect in the end. Though it was packaged with all original Xbox One consoles, the Kinect was dropped when it came to the Xbox One S, One X, and One S All-Digital Edition. The camera seemed to be primarily tied to Microsoft’s early message for Xbox One: that the machine was a media center for the family as opposed to a gaming console. The non-gamers in the family could just talk to the Xbox One to watch movies and TV, and they didn’t even have to pick up a controller to turn the machine on and off.

In the years since the Kinect was dropped, Microsoft did a much better job in terms of accessories. The focus realigned on traditional console gaming, but providing players with more options of how to play. Adding mouse/keyboard support and developing the Xbox Adaptive controller were promising means of improving accessibility, while the Elite and Elite Series 2 controllers are ideal for players looking for that competitive edge, especially in shooters.

All of those accessories are solid, long-term investments–especially since Xbox Series X/S will support all of them–whereas the Kinect felt like Microsoft chasing the trends of voice activation and motion controls. It all adds up to a Microsoft that feels more confident in doing what it knows it’s good at, instead of chasing a pipe dream at the expense of what should have been the foundation of a gaming console all along.

Struggling To Deliver A System Seller

Despite having the most powerful console, Microsoft never really delivered on a powerhouse library of first-party console exclusives to sell it. True, I bought the Xbox One to play Titanfall, and the Xbox One has a killer console exclusive in Sunset Overdrive, but both of those games were released in 2014. What seemed like a promising start was never maintained throughout the Xbox One’s lifecycle.

Since 2014, there haven’t been many first-party games or console exclusives for Xbox One, and very few of them stack up to what Sony was exclusively putting out on PS4. Games like Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Sea of Thieves, Ori and the Blind Forest, Forza Horizon 4, and Gears 5 are good, but they’re not prestige quality–it didn’t seem like any were inspiring people to go out and buy an Xbox One if they didn’t already have it. If anything, they all seem like Xbox Game Pass sellers (which we’ll get into in a bit), not console sellers.

Granted, in August 2020, Xbox head Phil Spencer said that selling consoles is no longer the company’s main concern. Instead, Microsoft is aiming to permeate as many devices as it can, getting players invested into the Xbox brand with Xbox Game Pass and xCloud. But that doesn’t change how much it feels like Xbox has dropped the ball in comparison to Nintendo and PlayStation when it comes to curating a library of first-party exclusives this generation. Where PlayStation and Nintendo have reaffirmed their roles in the gaming industry (single-player blockbuster movie-like games for PlayStation, and enjoyably approachable and elegantly designed games for Nintendo), Xbox has meandered through this console generation with little in terms of an identity.

But Microsoft managed to make big changes in this regard in the final years of the Xbox One’s lifecycle. Through numerous acquisitions, Microsoft has tripled the number of first-party studios it has going into the next generation in comparison to what it had coming into this one. Between inXile Entertainment, Obsidian Entertainment, and Bethesda Games Studios, Microsoft can reclaim the Xbox’s identity as the go-to console for RPGs–a nice change of pace given that Microsoft’s only true attempt to recapture that identity on Xbox One, Scalebound, ultimately ended up getting canceled. And ID@Xbox has already helped Microsoft recover its platform in the indie game scene since the removal of Xbox Live Arcade from the Xbox marketplace. All good stuff, though admittedly a bit too late to act as system sellers for Xbox One.

The Best Deal In Gaming

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the best deal in gaming–it’s a monthly subscription that provides access to over 100 Xbox and PC titles for a fraction of their total retail cost. The subscription also includes Xbox Live Gold, allowing you to play Xbox games online and get a couple of free games each month via Games with Gold, as well as Microsoft’s cloud-based game streaming service, xCloud. Starting November 10, an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription also nets you EA Play at no extra charge, giving you early access and discounts on select games published by Electronic Arts, as well as its Game Pass-style Vault of older games. Plus, all Microsoft first-party games appear on the service the day they release.

Simply put, neither Sony nor Nintendo have anything close to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and thus far neither have indicated they have plans to compete in the same way. Game Pass is just a really, really, really good deal and the biggest selling point for having an Xbox One and preordering an Xbox Series X/S. Plus, it makes gaming more accessible (people with disabilities can more easily try games without worrying about paying for something they ultimately find out they can’t play) and affordable, both of which are always a good thing.

Looking Back While Moving Forward

The Xbox One is the only family of consoles to offer true backwards compatibility this console generation, with all Xbox One consoles being able to play a ton of Xbox 360 and original Xbox games. Select Xbox and Xbox 360 games are also enhanced on Xbox One X, which means they get improved performance and faster loading times, and the console both recognizes and upscales the game’s resolution to a higher quality image (sometimes up to 4K) for an improved visual experience.

Funnily enough, Microsoft began the console generation with a similar stance to Sony and Nintendo in regards to going next gen–originally, the Xbox One was a clean cut from the Xbox 360 and did not support backwards compatibility. But Microsoft backpedaled on this stance during its rebranding of Xbox One, when it was transitioning the machine away from an entertainment hub towards a more traditional gaming console.

It was a smart move too, as backwards compatibility is now one of the Xbox One’s biggest selling points. The Xbox One’s success in this regard has seemingly informed Microsoft’s plan for next gen, as backwards compatibility is one of the core pillars of Xbox Series X/S, transforming Xbox into an evolving ecosystem that’s both approachable and affordable to join, and (most importantly for Microsoft) difficult to leave.

Next Gen: Xbox Series X & Xbox Series S

We’ve already touched on this a bit in the previous sections, but it’s worth diving into all the ways that Microsoft spent this console generation preparing for the next one. All things considered, the platform holder is in a decent place, but it could be a lot better.

Though preorders for Xbox Series X/S went a bit more smoothly than PS5, securing a console for launch was still a pretty rough process. And yes, this isn’t really Microsoft’s fault–the company has no control over how retailers handle preorders. But at what point does Microsoft decide to try and work with partnered retailers to find a better solution, or at least ensure a smoother process on its own online store?

There’s also just a lot about the Xbox Series X/S that we just don’t know, despite its launch being only a few months away. Will next-gen games continue to cost $60 USD or will the price rise, like Sony seems to be implying with several PS5 launch titles? How will cross-gen multiplayer work if you own a game on Series X but your friend has it on One? Which announced Series X/S console exclusives are actually going to be out on launch day?

But it’s not all bad. Microsoft offering payment plan options for next-gen through Xbox All Access is a welcome sight. For too long, gaming has been an expensive hobby–implementing a payment plan welcomes in a new demographic of gamers to jump into next gen at launch. It’s a far better form of accessibility and affordability than releasing a cheaper disc-less version of the console nearly six years after the new gen has started.

Provided the games they make are well-received, Microsoft’s new studios should help with player complaints about the lack of first-party exclusives this generation. We are a bit concerned that Microsoft may be trying to fix the complaint a little too literally and is aiming for sheer quantity by acquiring numerous studios and churning out games to increase chances that more hit big, but Microsoft is buying studios known for excellent games, so our worries may be unfounded.

Other Matters In Brief

• User Interface: The Xbox One UI wasn’t all that great for much of the console’s lifecycle and Microsoft didn’t implement a popular fix for it until 2020, with the current one. Having a UI isn’t a huge issue, but it did make navigating the online console store and finding new games to play more difficult than it had to be, and seeing all those ads pop up on the home screen when booting up the Xbox One wasn’t a popular sight. The first UI tied into Xbox One’s original role as an entertainment hub (snapping multiple pages, navigating via hand motions, etc) while the current UI is something you’d expect of a more traditional gaming console, highlighting what you’ve been playing, what’s new in the store, and what’s new to Xbox Game Pass.
• xCloud: Cloud-based game streaming is beginning to take off, with several other corporate giants like Google even getting in on the fray. Pairing xCloud with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is a smart move on Microsoft’s part, as it fixes the two biggest problems cloud platforms face: cultivating a fleshed-out game library and convincing players to buy in. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate already has a huge library of games and the addition of xCloud comes at no extra charge.
• ID@Xbox: Microsoft lost its prominent position as a spotlight in the indie game scene going into the Xbox One. However, the ID@Xbox program has helped reestablish Microsoft as a good partner for indie games, especially since many of those partnerships lead to indie games getting prominent spots on Xbox Game Pass.
• Big Phil: Xbox has flourished under Phil Spencer’s leadership. Obviously, the success of a company is never the result of one person, but Microsoft’s decision to afford Spencer a great deal of agency in how to shape the Xbox brand and focus the company message around backwards compatibility, affordability, and accessibility is a big contributing factor to the growing success of Xbox One this console generation.

Verdict

The Xbox One is leaving on a far more positive note than when it first arrived. However, as awesome as it’s been to see the Xbox One improve over time, this entire console generation has really just been Microsoft recovering from tripping at the starting line. Microsoft needs to learn from those early blunders in order to avoid seeing similarly rough growing pains with the Xbox Series X/S.

If the Xbox One proves anything, it’s that coming off of a popular console does not guarantee your next one will be similarly received. As much as players’ opinions have turned around on Xbox One, Microsoft cannot afford to simply ride out on the good will it has managed to curate. The strides that Microsoft has made in regards to approachability, accessibility, and affordability are the Xbox One’s largest successes, but that can’t stop–steady improvement in these spaces is how Microsoft will continue to sell the Xbox brand in the next console generation.

There might not be much in the way of new revelations about the Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 this week, but that just means we’ve got the perfect opportunity to bring in our tech expert Michael Higham, who has a working Xbox Series X, and ask him about his experiences with it.

On the last episode of Generation Next we asked you to submit your questions for Michael and, in this Xbox Series X special, we put them to him. Xbox Series X-related topics covered include the load times, and whether the improvement is significant enough to warrant an upgrade to the new Xbox. On top of that, we talk about how the Quick Resume feature works and whether it takes up any SSD space, whether cross-gen parties are possible, and if the Series X supports ultra-wide resolutions.

We also get to the bottom of how much freedom there is to dictate resolution and framerate performance, how the Series X controller stacks up in terms of input latency, and, of course, if it can run Crysis.

Generation Next is GameSpot’s weekly video show all about the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Each Friday, join PlayStation Pro Tamoor Hussain, Xbox Xpert Jordan Ramée, and Console Connoisseur Lucy James as they discuss the biggest stories about the new consoles.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

The long-running game series Tomb Raider has been adapted for the big screen three times so far, the most recent being 2018’s reboot movie starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft. The film was a box office success, and a sequel was announced in September 2019. Like many upcoming films, production has been delayed, but now Vikander has provided an update on the movie’s status.

Speaking to Good Morning America, confirmed that Tomb Raider 2 was still happening. “The plan was for us to start making one this year, of course due to the [pandemic] situation, that’s now very different,” Vikander said, via Entertainment Weekly. “We’re still in discussions about it, so I hope we can probably get to it next year.”

The Tomb Raider sequel will be helmed by Kill List and Free Fire director Ben Wheatley, who takes over from the first film’s director, Roar Uthaug. However, we’re likely see two other movies from Wheatley before Tomb Raider 2 arrives. His remake of Hitchcock’s classic Rebecca hits Netflix later this month, and this week, it was reported that he shot a COVID-19 themed horror movie in 15 days during quarantine.

This will be the fourth Tomb Raider film, but only the second in this particular incarnation. Angelina Jolie played the character in 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and its 2003 sequel. Vikander’s first outing as the character, which was based on the current video game series, made $275 million at the worldwide box office and was met with mixed reviews. In his review, GameSpot’s Michael Rougeau called it “a pretty good action movie and a better than average video game adaptation,” citing “smart story choices and a winning performance from Alicia Vikander.”

For more, check out GameSpot’s guide to the biggest upcoming movies of 2020 and beyond.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.