Will 2017 be the Year of Xbox?
By Boston Blake 30 December 2016
After a successful year for Xbox One, here are a few reasons 2017 could become the year of the Xbox, with the Microsoft console outselling PlayStation 4.
Since 2013 when Sony and Microsoft launched the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One respectively, there has been a constant war between the two companies to sell the most consoles. For the most part, PlayStation 4 has easily dominated this fight, outselling Xbox One nearly every month for years, and hitting an impressive 50 million units sold worldwide just last month.
Despite its struggles selling the Xbox One, Microsoft has maintained a steady effort of constant improvements and additions to its flagship console. Those consistent updates, along with the release of the Xbox One S in August 2016, helped Xbox One outsell PlayStation 4 for four consecutive months this summer a fall, something that was unthinkable just a year ago.
With that kind of success, and many more goodies planned for Xbox fans, it’s quite possible that 2017 could be the year of Xbox. While Sony won’t just step aside and allow its primary competitor to commandeer the incredible success it has seen since launch, PlayStation 4 may struggle to keep up with the momentum Xbox has going for it.
Xbox One Exclusives
This past year was a big one for exclusives, both for Xbox and PlayStation. However, Sony stumbled with some of its most highly anticipated exclusives, including No Man’s Sky and The Last Guardian. The disappointment of both these titles has soured PlayStation 4 exclusives for some gamers, which could affect PlayStation 4 console sales this next year.
On the flip side, Xbox One had strong exclusives this year, including Gears of War 4 and Forza Horizon 3. Both titles performed well with critics and on store shelves, and helped push Xbox One sales above PlayStation 4 for a few months in 2016.
Coming off this year’s success, Xbox has many highly anticipated exclusive titles planned for 2017, including Crackdown 3, Halo Wars 2, Scalebound, State of Decay 2, Sea of Thieves, and possibly Halo 6 and Forza Motorsport 7. With that lineup, it’s hard to dispute Xbox’s potential for a huge year, possibly even enough to outsell PlayStation 4.
Backward Compatibility
When backward compatibility first launched in 2015, it had over 100 titles available for Xbox One owners. Sadly, many of those titles were less than stellar, which caused the concept to lose steam with some gamers.
Since then, however, Xbox has added a steady flow of new Xbox 360 titles to Xbox One’s backward compatibility service, including many of the titles gamers requested most for inclusion. With well over 300 games now available, and support for Xbox 360 ending, it’s a good time for many 360 owners to upgrade to the Xbox One. Plus, with Microsoft still not ruling out backward compatibility for original Xbox titles, there’s plenty of reason to consider the Xbox One over PlayStation 4 in 2017.
4K Blu-Ray Player
Many gamers were disappointed to learn Sony’s new flagship console, the PS4 Pro, does not include a 4K Blu-Ray player. While the PS4 Pro does offer 4K upscaling support for 4K TVs, many gamers were still disappointed by the omission.
On the flip side, the Xbox One S does include a 4K Blu-Ray player, meaning owners can watch and enjoy 4K Blu-Rays right from their console. A major selling point of the Xbox One S is that standalone 4K Blu-Ray players currently cost as much or more than an Xbox One S. So anyone with a 4K TV looking to make the most of their purchase would be well served by purchasing an Xbox One S.
The desire for a well-rounded 4K Blu-Ray device will continue to grow as 4K TVs become more affordable for more households, as was seen during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. As more people purchase 4K TVs in 2017, the demand for the Xbox One S will likely go up.
Project Scorpio
At E3 2016, Microsoft shocked gamers with news that it was working on a new, very powerful console dubbed Project Scorpio. Microsoft didn’t reveal a lot of details, but did share enough to whet the appetites of gamers around the world.
With the PS4 Pro specs underwhelming gamers, and a bright future ahead for Project Scorpio, there will undoubtedly be many gamers holding off on purchasing of the former in anticipation of the latter. That said, much still remains to be seen about Project Scorpio, which likely won’t see any additional details revealed until E3 2017. However, if the hardware and feature lineup lives up to the hype, it will give Xbox a much-needed boost through the second half of the year, and help drive strong Xbox sales through the holiday.
Xbox’s Potential
These are just a few of the reasons gamers may see Xbox One experience a successful 2017. And while such success won’t be enough to push Xbox One sales past PlayStation 4 – an endeavor that’s extremely unlikely to happen at all at this point – it could set up Xbox for a very fruitful few years to come.
What do you think about Xbox’s chances for success this next year? Will 2017 be the year of the Xbox, or will PlayStation 4 continue its impressive domination?
