It feels like just yesterday the Xbox One was announced with all its DRM and family sharing. Truth is, it’s been 18 months since Don Mattrick revealed the future of the Xbox brand in one of the most controversial gaming press conferences of all time, and in just a few weeks it’ll celebrate its one-year anniversary.
The Xbox One has been through trials and tribulations during its existence, filled with both achievement and shortcomings. It’s baffled minds in some ways, and overcome a level of adversity that would make some companies keel over. Really, the first year of the Xbox One is a tale of a mega-corporation with its back against the wall, forced to transform to cater to the consumer-oriented business models of today.
Related: Xbox One to Receive Big Price Cut
Given the occasion, we’re going to look back at each month of the Xbox One’s past year, focusing on the major events of its lifespan thus far. Check out the gallery below.
Xbox One's First Year: A Look Back at How Far it Has Come
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November 2013: Xbox One Debuts
The Xbox One released on November 22nd, 2013 at a price of $499.99. It would sell more than two million units worldwide within 18 days, initially making it a faster seller than the Xbox 360.
Reviewers found it to be promising, but rough around the edges. Its wide feature set was noted as particularly impressive, although its TV functionality and Snap feature were half-baked.
It launched with a great software library that included exclusives such as Forza Motorsport 5 and Capcom's Dead Rising 3. The inclusion of Ryse would temporarily muffle the noise of gamers denouncing it for its lesser specs when compared to the PlayStation 4.
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December 2013: Xbox One Outsells PS4 in North America
Despite being sold at a price of $499.99 and having some issues with PR—thanks to the previously announced DRM—, the Xbox One managed to outsell the PS4 in North America during the month of December, totalling at 3 million sales worldwide by year's end. Sony cited the loss as a result of a lack of supply. Nonetheless, the Xbox One would celebrate its one and only victory for the first 12 months on the market.
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January 2014: Xbox One Slows Down
Microsoft didn't start off the new year so well. The difference in processing capability between the Xbox One and PS4 became a bit of a problem once it was announced that Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition was running at 30 less frames per second on Xbox One. Press and gamers began questioning its GPU and ESRAM.
Boxes of unsold Xbox One's began to pile up at retailers, making it easy for consumers to pick one up, while also displaying a problem with demand of the new console for everyone to see.
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February 2014: The First of Many Great Updates
Demand issues would continue into February as photos of unsold bundles found their way online. However, Microsoft debuted the first of many well orchestrated updates for the Xbox One on February 14th with 6.2.10542. The Xbox One operating system was improved in noticeable ways including the addition of the shockingly absent controller battery power indicator, improved installation and DLC management, and updates to the My Games hub. This update would be just a small taste of Microsoft's commitment to refining the Xbox One's software.
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March 2014: Titanfall Deployment
Microsoft's exclusivity purchase of Titanfall from EA was a worthwhile investment. Following the slow months of January and February, March would propel the Xbox One into positive spotlight. It would have the best-selling game of the month despite Dark Souls 2, inFamous: Second Son, and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes debuting in the same month. The Xbox One would sell 311,000 consoles in the United States alone, signaling a victorious month for the console.
Things weren't so positive for EA, though. While Titanfall quickly sold more than one-million units, it didn't perform as well as it had expected when it signed an exclusivity agreement with Microsoft. After looking at the figures, it became clear that future Titanfall exclusivity with Microsoft is unlikely.
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April 2014: Forza Motorsport 5 Gets Bundled
Since April didn't have any particularly large releases in-place for the Xbox One, Microsoft chose to bundle one of its biggest games with the console for free: Forza Motorsport 5. It would help, but not quite enough to keep it from being outsold by the PS4.
The Xbox One also received an update that improved the Friends List as well as Kinect voice and motion.
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May 2014: Kinect Removed
After battling for months to try to and sell consumers on the Xbox One's higher price point due to the Kinect's inclusion, the camera was removed from a new $399.99 SKU. It was a huge move by Microsoft, especially given that it had invested hundreds of millions of dollars on research & development of the device, but after April it knew it had to make a move to be competitive heading into Summer.
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June 2014: A Hero is Born at E3
In July 2013 former Xbox Head Don Mattrick was "fired" after leading the brand into difficult times. He would be replaced by Phil Spencer in March, and it wouldn't be until E3 2014 that gamers would get an idea of how good he was for the Xbox brand. Not only did he enforce a new consumer-oriented nature of the company, versus the "we tell you what you want" style of the Mattrick era before, but he had a great stage presence. Games were the focus of the entire conference, a new concept for Microsoft.
At E3 2014 he along with several other members of Microsoft and first-party studios would show off a strong presentation. Among the announcements were new games including AAA releases such as Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Platinum Games' Scalebound, but also indie titles like Ori and the Blind Forest. It was promising, but the Xbox One had a few months to go until it would get some big hitters.
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July 2014: A Rough Time
July 2014 was a month that gamers have probably already forgotten due to being a dry month for game releases. PS4 would, once again, outsell the Xbox One. However, the July Xbox One Update was a good one, adding double-tap to Snap and Snap Mode for Achievements. The Last of Us Remastered overshadowed anything the Xbox One did during the month.
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August 2014: Madden Xbox One Doesn't Do Too Well
During the previous generation, the Xbox 360 was the premier platform for most sports titles, especially EA Sports' Madden. Microsoft would tap into this by introducing a Madden NFL 15 bundle during August, as well as a European bundle that included FIFA 15 and Forza Motorsport 5. It would push a lot of consoles, but somehow the PS4 would sell more copies of Madden NFL 15, NHL 15, and FIFA 15, damaging the Xbox's reputation as the premier sports gaming brand.
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September 2014: Free Games to Battle Destiny, Ends with a Bang
Destiny is one of the biggest release of 2014, and Sony's partnership to bring a Destiny bundle as well as exclusive content to PlayStation was something Microsoft had to do something about. So, it introduced a program that allowed Xbox One buyers to select a game to receive for free with their purchase. It was a good deal, but not quite enough. As a matter of fact the PS4 sold almost twice as many consoles as the Xbox One during the month.
At the end of the month Forza Horizon 2 would debut, becoming a smash hit for the Xbox One—it's one of my favorite games of all-time. It would sell over 500,000 copies and give the platform one of the best open-world racing games ever. Microsoft finally had gamers' attention.
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October 2014: The Biggest Console Update Yet
After months of exhausting effort just to trail behind Sony, Microsoft hit the ball out of the park during October 2014. Following the release of Forza Horizon 2, it would release one of the most remarkable console updates ever in the form of the October Xbox One Update. The update would improve the user-interface, add new social features, and make Snap intuitive, something it has needed since launch. The Xbox One went from having potential, to harnessing it overnight.
Following up with that, Sunset Overdrive debuted following a plethora of highly positive reviews—including our own. It's a new IP, and a great one at that. The Sunset Overdrive Xbox One Bundle would sell out as a result.
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November 2014: $50 Price Drop, Halo: The Master Chief Collection
On the same month that the Xbox One celebrates its one-year anniversary, it will have a price drop of $50, bringing regular bundles down to an affordable $349.99. Additionally, it has several important games in the pipeline. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will debut on the 3rd with an Xbox One partnership bringing a console bundle and platform-first DLC. Microsoft also won over Ubisoft with Assassin's Creed: Unity, so a $349.99 bundle including the game and its predecessor will hit store shelves during the month.
Most importantly, Halo: The Master Chief Collection will release in November. Everything seen from it so far makes it appear to be the best gaming collection ever, and it's a new release from a franchise that has earned itself millions of fans.
Lastly, the Xbox One November Update will add some solid new features to the console, including Custom Backgrounds and Gamer Profile. At this point, Microsoft has proven that it's serious when it comes to updating the Xbox One operating system.
