It has been a crazy few months full of exciting Xbox-related announcements that thankfully don’t seem to have been stalled or postponed due to COVID-19. From exclusive video game announcements to out-of-this-world, PlayStation-beating specifications, there was a lot for gamers to sink their teeth in to.
However, as exciting as many of the announcements were for the Xbox Series X, many of them were unsurprising due to the astronomical amount of leaks and rumors the next-gen console was subject to. Through the community collectively researching and storming the internet for clues, there were a ton of rumors that have now been confirmed by Microsoft.
10 Release Date
Not only did the rumors of the announcement date coming one month early turn out to be correct— as the announcement was initially slated for June but actually came in May— but the release date of the console ultimately proved to be correct, too. The release date might hardly be surprising as Microsoft’s console releases have historically been pretty uniform, all seeing release right before Christmas which has become an industry standard. Still, there was a chance it could’ve slipped into next spring, and that didn’t end up being the case.
9 Xbox Series S
Though the rumor of there being a more affordable Xbox was one of the biggest, it was at the time given the name Xbox Lockhart. The name might not have been completely accurate, but the rumor of there being a cheaper alternative was 100% correct.
Yes, the Series S totally looks like a speaker, but it is extremely powerful and it slashes the price of both the Series X and PlaySation 5, coming in at $299— a whole $200 cheaper than both of them.
8 Backwards Compatibility
Though Microsoft has tried to end the console wars several times, they may have at least won the next round thanks to the next Xbox’s backward compatibility. Though there were talks of this before the announcement, Microsoft confirmed that the Series X will be compatible with not only most Xbox One games, but also games that were released for the Xbox 360 and the original Xbox. On the other hand, it was recently confirmed that PS5 is only backwards compatible with PS4 games.
7 Design
Though its design has been the subject of hilarious memes, rumors and leaked images gave more than just clues as to what the fourth generation Xbox would look like before its announcement. Similar to the Xbox 360, the Series X has an upright tower design, and people have joked that it looks like a skyscraper and even the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey, but it isn’t as big as it looks in the promotional images.
6 Unchanged User Interface
As one of the most exciting parts of a new console isn’t just the look of the hardware and the improved specifications, the user interface for consoles has become a big part of the aesthetic. Unfortunately, Microsoft has left the UI completely unchanged, which was rumored to be the case long before it was officially revealed.
Whether it’s because the UI for the Xbox One is deemed not broke so there’s no need to fix it, or that Microsoft are putting all their effort in to more important elements of the console, remains to be determined.
5 Insane Specs
The Xbox Series X is four times more powerful than the Xbox One, which is relieving after Microsoft has failed to deliver on its specs when weighed against the PlayStation for multiple generations now (at least among launch units).
The PlayStation 3 was more powerful than the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 4 was more powerful than the Xbox One at launch, the latter of which played a part in Sony selling millions more of their consoles than Microsoft’s. But for the first time since the original Xbox vs the PlayStation 2, an Xbox has beaten a PlayStation with its powerful specifications.
4 Halo: Infinite
An announcement of a new Xbox console wouldn’t be complete without an appearance from the Master Chief himself. As Halo was one of the best Xbox launch titles ever, the Microsoft mascot has been prevalent upon the inception of every new generation.
And to the surprise of absolutely nobody, the Xbox Series X is no exception. Halo Infinite has tons of rumors surrounding it, including its cinematic scale, which is rumored to have a one shot camera just like God of War.
3 Price
The rumor of the Xbox’s price coming in at just below $500 was more of an educated guess than any leaks or comments from loose lips. As the Xbox One was $100 more than the PlayStation despite not being as powerful, it was a major part in Microsoft not shifting as many units as they hoped, so a more a competitive figure was much more likely.
Lo and behold, the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X are the exact same price, so this time around it’s more of an even playing field.
2 Fable
Sony might arguably have better exclusives overall, but fans have been waiting for a new Fable game for years— complete with a long list of demands— and this long in development project might have been one of Microsoft’s worst kept secrets.
The celebrated RPG series is still highly regarded despite a few spin-off-based missteps, and as the landscape of RPG has massively changed in the time since the series has been gone, the trailer shows it has been influenced by games like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.
1 Perfect Dark
The original Perfect Dark is ranked as the greatest first person shooter of all time, beating out the likes of Half-Life 2 and Halo— but it is now 16 years old, which is about 80 in game years. The series has been dormant since a disappointing Xbox 360 follow up, but Xbox users are finally getting a second sequel, which has been whispered about for the past few months.
The game is being worked on by Microsoft developer The Initiative, which is made up of a team who have worked on Doom, Uncharted, Tomb Raider, and others.
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