The Xbox One console, a faithful gaming companion whose life is finally coming to an end, deserves to be saluted. Although certain third-party games will continue to be released on this console, Microsoft has officially put an end to the existence of its console, which has met with mixed success. At the recent Xbox Games Showcase, the first-party titles presented only mentioned the PC and Xbox Series X/S as platforms, but this could simply be a marketing strategy.
For its part, Sony is still emphasizing the PS5 in its trailers and communication, but it’s also continuing to quietly release games on the PS4. However, don’t expect a similar situation for the Xbox One in the future.
No new games for the Xbox One, but updates and Game Pass Ultimate are still available
In a recent interview with Axios, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, declared that Microsoft had “moved on to Generation 9”. And it seems he really means it:
“No internal Xbox team is currently working on projects for the Xbox One, with the exception of updates for long-standing online games such as The Elder Scrolls Online. Of course, Xbox One owners can still technically access new games by subscribing to Game Pass Ultimate and playing via the cloud.”
The announcement of Xbox One discontinued may disappoint some console loyalists, but it should also come as a relief to many. With hardware shortages and the high prices of new consoles, the “crossgen” era, where games are released on both old and new console generations, has lasted longer than usual.
Perhaps too long, as this has undoubtedly limited the potential of games that have yet to be designed with the limitations of the Xbox One and PS4 in mind. Sony, Microsoft’s competitor, has not yet announced the complete abandonment of the PS4, but several of its upcoming games, such as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, will be exclusive to the PS5.
Although Microsoft is discontinuing the Xbox One, it’s unlikely to abandon its current-generation console, the less powerful Xbox Series S, any time soon. Booty admitted that making games compatible with both Xbox Series X and Series S represents “extra work”, but internal teams have gained more experience in working around the limitations and “sharp edges” of the Series S.