6 Biggest Mistakes Made by the Xbox One This Generation

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Microsoft’s Xbox One console. Its unveiling on May 21, 2013 was like a worse version of the Big Bang, bringing the console into the world with a terrible explosion followed by a sequence of directly related, also terrible events. The year 2013 was not kind to the Xbox brand, and that is putting it lightly.

Xbox One has since recovered. Sony shows no signs of slowing down, and it’s likely Microsoft will still wind up in second place when this generation is said and done. However, things have gotten better under the Phil Spencer regime, and there’s hope for the future of Xbox with Scorpio coming later this year. Still, it’s hard not to look back at Microsoft’s missteps and wonder, what if?

Here are the six biggest mistakes made by the Xbox One this generation.

This post was originally authored by Shawn Farner.

Size and Specs

There is one game console released this century that can make an Xfinity cable box look svelte. Any guesses? It’s the original Xbox One, a massive black box born out of Microsoft’s paranoia of reliving the Xbox 360 “red ring of death” days.

You won’t overheat this giant contraption. You also won’t outperform the PlayStation 4 with it, either. That’s right — Microsoft managed to make a box that was much larger than that of its competitor while also making it less powerful.

When you go for the one-two punch, you should not be punching yourself.

The Entertainment Focus

The initial Xbox One reveal was a Don-Mattrick-led comedy of errors that positioned the Xbox One as a do-it-all entertainment device rather than a game console. Microsoft spent almost an hour touting the system’s TV features, apps, and content plans while dedicating an alarmingly short time to games that weren’t Call of Duty.

As it turns out, gamers were not in the mood for that.

Microsoft also held this event several weeks before E3. In hindsight, it was a strategic error that allowed Sony to capitalize on the Xbox One’s bad press and tweak its own PlayStation 4 messaging to precision.

Dropping Xbox Live Arcade

Xbox Live Arcade humbly began on the original Xbox, but the Xbox 360 is where this program really took off. XBLA games, as many called them, were either smaller current-generation titles or ports from past generations, and the fact that Xbox Live Arcade had its own section in the Xbox 360 store meant that these games had a unique platform to shine. Critically acclaimed titles that found a home on Xbox Live Arcade include Braid, Shadow Complex, and Super Meat Boy.

With the move to Xbox One, however, Microsoft decided to drop the special Xbox Live Arcade moniker and did away with the Xbox 360’s Indie section, as well. What’s left today is a store where smaller titles are side by side with AAA juggernauts, with no section that allows games from tinier studios to taste the spotlight. 

Forcing Kinect

Between Nov. 4, 2010 and Jan. 3, 2011, the fastest-selling consumer electronics device was not an iPhone or an iPad — it was Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360. The device got decent reviews and flew off store shelves. So naturally, Microsoft felt that packing a next-generation Kinect in with its Xbox One console was a no-brainer.

It wasn’t. Consumers pushed back against the lack of choice Microsoft provided, as there was no Kinect-less console bundle available at the Xbox One’s launch. Further, the Xbox One’s UI relied so heavily on Kinect voice commands that buying an Xbox One and selling the Kinect after seemed like a risky proposition. Rather than buy a system with an extra accessory they didn’t want, many jumped ship to the Xbox One’s competitor instead.

The DRM System

At E3 2013, Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida and Adam Boyes appeared together in an instructional video about game sharing. The video had one step — Yoshida handing a game to Boyes, followed by a hard cut to the PS4 logo and robotic “PlayStation” sound.

This would become the second big punch to the gut Microsoft experienced at E3. But why did it hurt so much?

Weeks earlier, Microsoft had unveiled the Xbox One during a special event during which it infamously spent little time talking about games. One thing it did mention, however, was a new 24-hour DRM check-in system along with a convoluted family and friend sharing plan. Both made owning and sharing games much more complicated. Consumers were not happy with the news, and weeks later, Microsoft backtracked and removed the DRM system. The damage was already done.

The Price

After watching Sony bungle its PlayStation 3 launch by pricing the console at $599, surely Microsoft wouldn’t make that mistake, right? Wrong. Whether it was hubris from its successful Xbox 360 run, a desire to put a Kinect in every home, or both, Microsoft had no issue announcing that the lone Xbox One package would retail at $499.

The problem was, Microsoft made this announcement at E3 2013, and it did so hours before Sony’s PlayStation 4 reveal. Sony took advantage, revealing to huge applause that the PlayStation 4 would cost $399 — $100 cheaper than the Xbox One.

Sony’s game sharing video was the second big punch in the gut to Microsoft. The PlayStation 4 undercutting the Xbox One was the first, and set the stage for what continues to be dominance by the PlayStation 4 in the current-generation console market.