The Xbox One is in trouble. Sure, they released an amazing piece of hardware this holiday season with the Xbox One X. It is apparently selling very well, compared to expectations. Two of Xbox’s exclusive games, Scalbound and Fable Legends, were canceled. Millions of dollars simply wasted. Last year, the Xbox One had a decent lineup of exclusives for the holidays. Gears of War 4 was excellent, as well as Forza Horizon 3. Dead Rising 4 was mindless fun. This year they have nothing in terms of software. It is relegated to a third-party machine. In fact, I only buy Xbox One games to play with my brother, and all of those (except Gears of War) are third-party. This is horrible for the industry.
While Microsoft claims announcements are coming (but when?), they don’t have a single first-party holiday game coming out. While focusing on hardware, Microsoft isn’t understanding what gamers care about most: software. Exclusive content is how you attract new customers. Tech enthusiasts may be able to afford a $500 system, but your average consumer can’t. Even Forbes is stating the PS4 Pro is a better buy than the Xbox One X. There are several reasons why the Xbox One is in trouble.
No VR Headset
This is a biggie. The Xbox One is the most powerful console ever created, so why doesn’t it have a Virtual Reality headset? Skyrim and Doom are already out on the PlayStation. Fallout 4 VR is coming next year for the HTC Vive. Why is Microsoft not taking advantage of this given its power? It makes no sense and is an atrocious business decision. Sony is putting Microsoft to shame in this respect. VR is here and there’s a huge demand for it. With Microsoft’s resources, they could create something even better than the PSVR. Why aren’t they?
There is no excuse for the Xbox One X not to have Virtual Reality. It’s just causing them to fall behind Sony even more, and with the Switch seemingly dominating holiday sales so far, Microsoft may be left in the wind. And quite honestly, as an Xbox One owner, this is incredibly sad.
The Xbox One Lacks Exclusives
It’s not just this holiday season — the Xbox One lacks exclusives. The only games I know of that have been announced definitively for next year are Sea of Thieves and Crackdown 3. Sony had an amazing year in 2017 for the PlayStation 4 with Horizon Zero Dawn, Persona 5, Nier Automata, Nioh, and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Simarily, despite being released in March, the Nintendo Switch also has an extremely impressive list of exclusives for the year, coming out with Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Xenoblade 2, Splatoon 2, ARMS; there are too many to count. Sony showcased The Last of Us 2, Spider-Man, God of War, and an all-time classic, Shadow of the Colossus for 2018 (The Last of Us maybe a little later, but we don’t know yet). This makes the Xbox One look pathetic in comparison.
To compete the Xbox One cannot simply be everybody’s third-party machine. It needed a Halo this year, regardless of the series’ decliine since 343 took over, and it didn’t get it. Not to mention the PlayStation 4 is getting a lot of timed-exclusive DLC content. The Nintendo Switch may end up eclipsing the Xbox One sooner or later if they don’t turn things around, especially given their excellent first-party content and even third-party support.
You Can Barely Tell The Difference
The human eye can only detect so much. Yes, there is no doubt the Xbox One X is superior to the PlayStation 4 Pro. Sony was smart though. They made a powerful machine, but it’s affordable and performs great. While playing though, unless you’re an extreme tech enthusiast, at least right now, you cannot really tell the difference. This is even according to Erik Kain, a gaming journalist from forbes who has both consoles. The only ones who will by the Xbox One X are hardcore Xbox fans and tech enthusiasts. Wii sales, and even Switch sales by comparison, show that a system does not need to be overpowered to sell or be successful.
The Wii should have been a little more powerful, but it was a huge success. The Nintendo Switch is a hybrid console that you can bring on the go with you, hence its lack of power compared to the other two consoles. Power isn’t everything though. If the eye can barely tell the difference in the middle of a game, what’s the point of paying an extra $100 for an Xbox One X versus a PlayStation 4 Pro? It makes no sense, especially given the abundance of exclusives Sony has and the fact that it has Virtual Reality.
Microsoft Needs to Get it Together
There’s no excuse for this. I owned a 360, I didn’t get a PS3 until late in its lifecycle. It was an excellent system with a lot of awesome exclusives (I bought it for Lost Odyssey and Mass Effect when it was still an exclusive). I owned everything on my Xbox 360, playing my Wii when I wanted my Mario or Zelda (eventually Xenoblade) fix. The decline is sad but I don’t think all is lost. Microsoft needs to pull it together though.
Within the next year the Xbox One needs a VR headset. They need to release at least five exclusives. They need people to give a crap about the console and what it has to offer, because it has a lot to offer, especially the Xbox One X.