Windows Central Insider
Xbox is Microsoft's gaming division. Launched in 2001 with the original Xbox console (presented by Bill Gates and The Rock, no less), the division has gone through multiple permutations on its journey to its current form. Originally envisioned as a device that could bring Windows to the living room, Xbox eventually competed more directly with PlayStation targeting core gamers.
Xbox had solid success in the United States and other English-speaking markets, buoyed by heavy hitters like Halo and Forza, alongside various heavy hitting third-party exclusive titles. Microsoft's Xbox is responsible for various gaming innovations that are now commonplace. Online live infrastructure, "games as a service" titles, subscription services, and cloud-first business models owe at least something to initiatives spearheaded by Microsoft (for better or worse).
In 2013, Microsoft's push to turn Xbox into a digital-first entertainment center saw widespread pushback from the gaming community. Despite predicting trends that are now commonplace, the way Microsoft positioned Xbox back then has seen it struggle to regain the relevance it once enjoyed as a brand in a universe of increased competition from other platforms, in addition to always-on forms of entertainment and smartphone-delivered social media algorithms.
As Xbox enters its 25th year, Microsoft is once again reinventing what Xbox is with its new approach, doubling down on Windows' openness, and returning to the original vision of Windows gaming in the living room. It'll be fun to see how it pans out.
Essential Xbox reading
Latest about Xbox
How to watch the Xbox Games Showcase and Gears: E-Day direct
Xbox Xbox's grandest Game Showcase is coming. Here's how you watch its major announcements live, along with the highly anticipated Gears of War: E-Day direct stream.
Xbox Showcase games appear early on Game Pass tab
XBOX Xbox’s “Coming Soon to Game Pass” page may have revealed several games ahead of the upcoming Xbox Showcase, including Fable, Clockwork Revolution, and Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy.
Xbox stick drift could be solved with this free tool
Xbox Stick drift plagues countless Xbox and PC gamers, and it's not always an easy fix. That's hopefully changing now that DriftGuard has added full calibration support for ALL Xbox gamepads.
Forza Horizon 6 dev says it's still releasing Xbox's Fable "later this year"
Xbox As Playground Games launches Forza Horizon 6 with huge success for Xbox, the developer has reaffirmed it's still releasing Fable "later this year" too.
Xbox’s new plan to win the "Attention War"
Xbox XBOX has a new chief strategy officer as part of another leadership shakeup from CEO Asha Sharma. How might Matthew Ball handle XBOX's future? We can infer a bit from his own analysis.
New Xbox chief strategy officer says joining Microsoft was "irresistible"
Xbox As part of plans for "strengthening Xbox’s console business," its new CSO Matthew Ball aims to elevate Microsoft's social "creator-centric" games.
The numbers are in: Xbox players want disc‑to‑digital
Xbox Project Helix raises new questions about physical games, backward compatibility, and whether disc‑to‑digital will be an essential part of the Xbox ecosystem.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma hires "widely respected" gaming analyst for strategy
Xbox In her latest wave of Xbox leadership hires, CEO Asha Sharma has brought industry analyst Matthew Ball and two others into the fold at Microsoft.
