I spent way too much time following this year’s E3 and was shocked by the outstanding performance of Microsoft and the Xbox One platform. The firm announced several new features in addition to blockbuster trailers like “Halo Infinity” that they expect will differentiate them from their competitors.
Xbox One sales are sluggish with just over 39 million units sold to date and the Xbox One has fallen far behind Sony production of the Playstation 4. Sony has sold more than 76 million units of the Playstation 4 up to this point, almost doubling Microsoft. The massive differential between Sony and Microsoft was leading myself and fellow gamers to question the longevity of the Xbox platform.
Microsoft struck back at E3 against naysayers by introducing an impressive lineup of new games. The company has struggled for years to retain exclusive titles for their console, but with the purchase of several indie firms the Xbox One can now boast 18 new games which will only be available on their system. Microsoft has also doubled down on their Netflix-like service dubbed “Game Pass,” which gives access to over 100 new releases and classic titles available for a subscription fee.
The key distinction I noticed Microsoft make was a new technology called FastStart, a machine-learning technology being incorporated into the Xbox One X and older systems subscribed to Game Pass. FastStart allows any game to constantly improve the loading times, with some games already loading twice as fast.
Overall, the struggling Microsoft Xbox One seems to be headed in the right direction. I love the new exclusive titles, the Game Pass subscription service of over 100 titles, and best of all, faster loading times. The constant battle of the platforms just got a bit more competitive.
