The Xbox brand has been getting tons of headlines over the last 24 hours, and not in a positive way. There’s been plenty being shown and said during Gamescom that makes many wonder what the brand’s fate will be going forward. Naturally, the team is attempting to “wave off” any “misgivings” that may appear obvious, including by trying to cloud the news with some reveals. For example, Microsoft dropped a trailer highlighting three new types of Xbox Series X/S models that players can get. Each has its own “unique variation” to separate it from the others. Here’s how they all break down.
First, there’s a special Xbox Series X that has a 2TB SSD card on it, ensuring that gamers have plenty of space to play and download as many titles on it as they want. That’s likely a good move, given how big downloads have been getting for key AAA titles recently. Then, there’s a digital-only version of the Xbox Series X that comes with a 1TB SSD card. Microsoft has been big on the “digital-only” future in the past, and they’re clearly not giving up on it.
Finally, there’s an Xbox Series S that has a 1TB SSD card. So, if you can only afford the slightly less powerful model, you can still have plenty of games stored on it. You can pre-order one of these models via the link below:
While this may seem like a big announcement, the true question is whether these new Xbox Series X/S models will do anything for the brand. After all, the biggest news from Gamescom was that Xbox lost yet another exclusive, and there are rumors that even more exclusive titles of theirs are going to PlayStation 5.
It didn’t help that Phil Spencer basically “double-talked” during an interview about the loss of exclusivity, stating that “they run a business” and that they need to “learn and adapt” to what’s going on in the gaming industry right now.
Except, as many would point out, that’s not really the problem. The Xbox brand as a whole focused more on buying and getting new studios versus using those studios properly to make the best games possible. Then, when some of those studios DID make great games, like Tango Softworks, they got shut down.
And they can keep making variations to the Xbox console line all they want, but if no one is buying them, then it doesn’t matter. The current Xbox generation hasn’t even sold half of what the PlayStation 5 has done, and that doesn’t look to be changing soon.
