Eight months into a global crisis, gaming was at its most popular level since the mid-2000s. And no gaming brand stood to benefit more from the state of the world than Xbox. After the Xbox One lost ground to both its competitors following a series of baffling decisions by old leadership, Microsoft’s gaming umbrella needed a fresh start. With hardcore fans chomping at the bit for new hardware, and lapsed gamers returning to their hobby, the Xbox Series X and S were an answer to all the ways its predecessor screwed up. It was powerful, focused squarely on gaming, and offered a compelling vision of what the future of playing games could be.
Five years later, however, what started as a worthwhile gaming option has been diminished by a torrent of mixed messaging, price increases, and an ongoing identity shift that’s coming at the expense of those who believed in the original promise of the console at launch.
