When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Heres how it works.
It’s been a challenging year for Xbox.
However, those highlights appear in a sea of painful industry news.
So, to look ahead to Xbox’s 2025, we must also consider the past 12 months.
The coming year will be make-or-break for Xbox.
According tothe latest financial reports, Xbox’s revenue is up significantly.
Console sales continue to decline which isn’t unusual five years into a console cycle.
Another big swing wasXbox Game Pass.
Day-one releases for first-party titles significantly cut potential earnings, and licensing them from third-party’s was extremely costly.
Phil Spencer said the move aligned the company with “the best opportunities for growth”.
This time, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty said the decision was grounded in prioritizing high-impact titles".
Then, in September,Microsoft announced 650 further layoffs.
Spencer says this was “to organize our business for long-term success”.
Under the microscope
Those layoffs are a sign that Xbox is under greater scrutiny from Microsoft.
For years now, it’s been second-place to Sony and only showing small growth.
Not all Doom and gloom
So, them’s the ‘breaks’; and they are significant.
Ellewood, the Xbox Series S upgrade, would feature the same connectivity and power upgrades.
That would align withthe recently updated Xbox Series X design, slightly reducing power consumption.
And, if Microsoft finds ways to lower production costs, the older consoles are due a price cut.
We also hope to seea new generation of Xbox’s excellent Elite Series controllers.
Of course, there is the long-talked-about Xbox handheld.
In November, Phil Spencer confirmed thatXbox is building handheld prototypes.
2024 showed that Microsoft’s strategy for the Xbox wasn’t working.
It was the staff who paid the cost of those decisions.
However, there is good reason to believe that 2025 will go some way to restore Xbox’s sheen.
It just has to deliver.
