Xbox is in an uphill battle when it comes to the console wars as PlayStation storms ahead, effectively leaving it in the dust.
2025 has been a tough year for Xbox though the company still appears confident that its place within the game industry is secure.
There’s been a few wins. For example Game Of The Year winner Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was a day one Xbox Game Pass title and Xbox’s new handheld, the ROG Ally X, had a very successful launch.
In terms of actual console sales though the company has taken a dive, with hardware sales down by 70 percent according to Forbes. In fairness PlayStation hasn’t fared much better with PlayStation 5 sales down by 40 percent, but that’s a pretty big difference between the two.
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This is bad news for Xbox on a number of levels because while it hasn’t fully outlined its plan for the next-generation of consoles, leaks suggest it’ll lean more into PC gaming, with some sort of console/PC hybrid.
It’s said Xbox’s next-gen hardware will be priced like a PC too, going up to around $1,000, which I’m sure will go down well with consumers.
Steam support is also said to be in the works, but with Valve’s Steam Machine likely being cheaper than the next Xbox it begs the question why you’d go with Microsoft’s option if your goal is to play Steam games on a TV or monitor. It’ll likely be the more affordable option after all.
The PlayStation 6 will likely be in a different league altogether, and while I can’t imagine it’ll be cheap it’ll at least have a wide range of exclusives, or at least you’d hope so.
Where Xbox Went Wrong
Over the past couple of years Xbox has embraced a sense of community with other console manufacturers, with the perfect example being the sheer number of first-party Xbox titles that have made their way to rival hardware.
It’s continuing into 2026 too, with Halo: Campaign Evolved launching on both Xbox and PlayStation simultaneously which would have been unheard of years ago.
This would all make sense if the company was hoping to leave hardware behind and focus on games, but with talk of another console on the way and an expensive one at that it’s hard to tell what the plan is going forward.
For now though there’s simply less and less reason to own an Xbox over a competitor’s console.
Topics: PlayStation, Xbox, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X