131-503: Game Pass is a subscription service as part of Xbox and offered by Microsoft Gaming . Launched on June 1, 2017, the service allows users to download and play video games via video game consoles , Microsoft Windows , Android , iOS , iPadOS , web browsers , smart televisions , and cloud. Game Pass contains a rotating library of games, with the games remaining accessible as long as the user has an active subscription. Game Pass subscribers also receive discounts on purchases of games from
262-514: A Microsoft account , is the account for Xbox ecosystem; accounts can store games and other content. The service was extended in 2007 across the Windows platform, named Games for Windows – Live , now defunct, which made most aspects of the system available on Windows computers. The Xbox app is now used to cross over the Xbox ecosystem into PC gaming, in addition to handhelds and mobile phones as part of
393-557: A Windows 10 PC (running Windows 10 Anniversary Update or later) through Microsoft Store using the same Microsoft account at no additional charge, and vice versa. The scheme also promotes the ability to synchronize save data, achievements, and downloadable content between Windows 10 and Xbox One versions of a game. Microsoft announced in March 2019 that it would be providing Xbox Live SDKs for iOS and Android mobile devices, allowing developers on those platforms to integrate most services of
524-629: A denial-of-service attack . Functionality was restored on December 28, with some users experiencing difficulties in the days that followed. A group called, "The Phantom Squad" has threatened to disrupt the Xbox Live network through a denial-of-service attack on December 25, 2015. In 2019, the Official Xbox Magazine revealed that Xbox Live would be made cross platform, and will serve Android , iOS and Nintendo Switch . Microsoft added Xbox Live Gold to its Xbox Game Pass program as part of
655-532: A dial-up modem while a later-released broadband adapter was neither widely supported nor widely available. Downloadable content was available, though limited in size due to the narrowband connection and the size limitations of a memory card . The PlayStation 2 did not initially ship with built-in networking capabilities. Microsoft, however, hoped that the Xbox would succeed where the Dreamcast had failed. The company determined that intense online gaming required
786-422: A mathematical model of uncertainty to address weaknesses in existing ranking systems such as Elo . For example, a new player joining million-player leagues can be ranked correctly in fewer than 20 games. It can predict the probability of each game outcome, which enhances competitive matchmaking, making it possible to assemble skill-balanced teams from a group of players with different abilities. When matchmaking,
917-400: A July 2020 interview, Xbox's marketing director Aaron Greenberg said that Xbox Game Pass is not necessarily meant to be profitable for Microsoft at the current time but is designed to help draw more players to use it through word-of-mouth by offering a large set of features as a seemingly under priced value, and in the long-term become valuable. This allows them to avoid high costs of advertising
1048-535: A broadband connection. It first competed with Dreamcast's online service but later primarily competed with PlayStation 2's online service . Although the two competing services were free, while Xbox Live required a subscription – as well as broadband-only connection, which was not completely adopted yet – Xbox Live was a success due to it having better servers , features such as a buddy list , and milestone titles such as Halo 2 (released in November 2004), which became
1179-540: A catalog of games from a range of publishers for a single monthly subscription price. The service was launched on June 1, 2017. Xbox Wire is Xbox's news blog , launched by Microsoft in May 2013 in preparation for the announcement of the Xbox One. It was Microsoft's first Xbox-focused blog since it shut down Gamerscore in early 2009. In March 2022, a Japanese-language version of the site was published as part of Microsoft's focus on
1310-482: A digital D-pad . The right face of the controller features four digital action buttons; a green "A" button, red "B" button, blue "X" button and yellow "Y" button. The lower right houses the right analog stick, in the lower left is a digital D-pad and on the left face is the left analog stick. Both analog sticks can also be "clicked in" to activate a digital button beneath. In the center of the controller face are digital "Start", "Back" and "Guide" buttons. The "Guide" button
1441-525: A flat rate approach as to assure exclusivity on the Microsoft platform, to completely covering the costs of development, and includes various models based on usage and monetization approaches. Paradox Interactive 's Fredrik Wester stated the terms they have had followed the Netflix model where the developer or publisher was paid a lump sum by Microsoft for their game on the service for a fixed period of time based on
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#17328514075621572-428: A free Xbox Live Arcade game to all Xbox Live users as compensation, in an open letter to all Xbox Live members from Marc Whitten, Xbox LIVE General Manager. Increased demand from Xbox 360 purchasers (the largest number of new user sign-ups in the history of Xbox Live) was given as the reason for the downtime. On January 18, 2008, Microsoft announced Undertow would be offered free to both Gold and Free members for
1703-428: A headset and communication, a feature that was still in its infancy. Leading up to the launch, Microsoft enlisted several waves of beta testers to improve the service and receive feature feedback. The first wave of beta testers were given Re-Volt ! (which was never released officially) and NFL Fever 2003 to beta test. Once beta testing concluded, Microsoft sent these beta testers a translucent orange memory card,
1834-582: A headset carrying case, and a beta tester t-shirt with the slogan "I've got great hands". When the service debuted, it lacked much of the functionality that later titles included, but Xbox Live grew and evolved on the Xbox and many aspects of the service were included with the Xbox 360 console out of the box, rather than through a later update. Microsoft granted Live-related patent that gives Xbox 360 users access to watch other gamers compete against each other over Xbox Live. The packaging for playable Xbox Live titles on
1965-406: A launch title for it, atypical of Rare's typical output. According to Rare studio director Craig Duncan, working on Kinect Sports gave them creative ideas for a future game with multiplayer elements, which they initially called "Rare Next" but eventually developed into Sea of Thieves . Sea of Thieves was intended as a major test of demonstrating how well Game Pass would be adopted by players and
2096-455: A limited "Free" tier called Silver), the ability to stream multimedia content from PCs, while later updates added the ability to purchase and stream music, television programs, and films through the Xbox Music and Xbox Video services, along with access to third-party content services through third-party media streaming applications . Microsoft also released Kinect , a motion control system for
2227-546: A limited form of Xbox Live "awareness". In July 2004, Xbox Live had reached 1 million online users. In July 2005, Xbox Live had reached 2 million online users. On November 15, 2007, Microsoft celebrated Xbox Live's 5th anniversary by offering its then over 8 million subscribers the title Carcassonne free of charge and awarding gamers who had subscribed to Live since its inception 500 free Microsoft Points . Due to intermittent service interruptions during late December 2007 and early January 2008, Microsoft promised to offer
2358-545: A new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription tier in April 2019. On January 22, 2021, Microsoft planned to increase the prices for the Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, as follows: by $ 1 for the monthly subscription ($ 10.99 from $ 9.99), by $ 5 for the 3-month subscription ($ 29.99 from $ 24.99), by $ 20 for the 6-month subscription ($ 59.99 from $ 39.99), and by $ 60 (double the price) for the 12-month subscription ($ 119.99 from $ 59.99). However,
2489-670: A new tier that combines both Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold into a single subscription package. It became available for testing to Xbox Insiders that same day, while general availability began on June 9, 2019. In May 2019, Microsoft announced Game Pass for PC, which would be supported on Windows 10 and have over 100 games available at launch. On June 9, 2019, Microsoft announced that Game Pass for PC would launch in open beta, and this would also be included in Ultimate. Spencer said in October 2020 that their current pricing model for Game Pass at this point
2620-404: A perceived value, rather than the per-play royalty -based approach used by services like Spotify . The upfront approach, along with the large subscriber numbers, allows developers to select ongoing directions for their games. In the case of Obsidian Entertainment , they were able to consider additional downloadable content for their game Outer Worlds as they knew millions were playing it. In
2751-478: A pilot project, which allows the user to change their region and maintain their Xbox network profile. Subscriptions, such as that for Xbox Music, cannot be transferred with this method. On May 18, 2011, Microsoft announced that it planned to launch Xbox network in the Middle East within the next twelve months, but it never occurred during that time period. However, on October 20, 2012, Microsoft officially announced
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#17328514075622882-521: A preview that started on February 28, 2023. A portion of the PC Game Pass catalog will be available to the GeForce Now streaming service later in 2023. Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles , as well as applications (games), streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming , and online services such as the Xbox network and Xbox Game Pass . The brand
3013-436: A successful result. On February 28, 2017, Microsoft announced the debut of Xbox Game Pass and made a limited catalog of games available to select members of its Xbox Insider community for testing and feedback. Later in the second quarter of 2017, the service was opened up to players who subscribe to Xbox Live Gold , and then to the general user population. An Xbox Live Gold subscription is not required for Xbox Game Pass, but it
3144-487: A variable number of Achievements, while each Xbox Live Arcade title contained 12 Achievements totaling 200G. On February 1, 2007, Microsoft announced on their Gamerscore Blog some new policies that developers must follow related to Gamerscore and Achievements in future releases. All regular disc-based games must have 1,000 Gamerscore points in the base game; the title can ship with fewer than 1,000 points, but anything added later must be free. Game developers also now have
3275-512: A variety of games. Most games released on the original Xbox are backwards compatible and can be played directly on its successor, Xbox 360 . Backward compatibility with Xbox 360 titles was added to Xbox One a year-and-a-half after its launch in June 2015, with specific titles requiring Kinect or USB peripherals not being supported. The Xbox Series X/S supports backward compatibility with all Xbox One titles (except for Kinect-required games), as well as all
3406-417: A version of Windows and DirectX to power the games on the console. This approach would make it easy for developers on Windows to build games for their new system, differentiating itself from the custom hardware solutions of most consoles. Numerous names were suggested for this console, including "Direct X Box", and the "Windows Entertainment Project". Microsoft's marketing team conducted consumer surveys of
3537-421: A vision of making premium download content and add-ons that would attract many new customers. Based on this reasoning, the console included a standard Ethernet port (10/100) in order to provide connectivity to common broadband networks , but did not include a modem or any dial-up support, and its online service was designed to support broadband users only. Critics scoffed at it, citing poor broadband adoption at
3668-521: A year ago, during the Dive into Media conference in Southern California. In June 2014, Microsoft retracted the Xbox Live Gold requirements to access streaming media apps (including Netflix , Hulu , YouTube , Internet Explorer, Skype, and others), though various rental or subscription fees may still apply. On December 25, 2014, both PlayStation Network and Xbox Live suffered network disruption after
3799-507: Is a companion application available for Windows 8 , Windows 10 , Windows 11 , iOS , Android (version 4.0 and above), and Windows Server 2012 . It was announced by Microsoft during E3 2012 and released on October 26, 2012, coinciding with the release of Windows 8. It can connect with the console and allows more interactive entertainment, allowing mobile devices to potentially serve as second screens and remote controller. Xbox Game Pass Cloud Gaming (codenamed xCloud during development)
3930-413: Is a major component of their plans going forward, which powers its Xbox Cloud Gaming game streaming service. Spencer also cited mobile gaming as a potential area, and where Microsoft was trying to position itself with its services should this become the more preferred form for gaming. Spencer said "I don't think it's "hardware agnostic" as much as it's 'where you want to play'", in describing how Microsoft
4061-473: Is an achievements point accumulation system that reflects the number of achievements accumulated by a user on Xbox through the displaying of the number of points accumulated. These Achievement points are awarded for the completion of game-specific challenges, such as beating a level or amassing a specified number of wins against other players in online matches and other various in game challenges. Initially, retail Xbox 360 games offered up to 1,000G spread over
Xbox Game Pass - Misplaced Pages Continue
4192-439: Is available as both a free service and a subscription-based service known as Xbox Game Pass Core . In 2021, Microsoft renamed Xbox Live as simply the "Xbox network" to cover all of its services related to Xbox, and began slowly phasing out all "Live" branding until it was fully removed in 2023. The Xbox network is available in 42 countries and territories. '*' = Country where Xbox network and Store are officially available, but
4323-455: Is available only while the game is in the catalog and is only for the particular game. Games from the catalog can be played while the console is offline, but for no more than 30 days before it must reconnect to verify an active subscription . If the game is removed from the catalog or the player ends their subscription, access is suspended until the player purchases the game or renews their subscription, but their in-game progress will be saved in
4454-423: Is compatible with PC and mobile web browsers (including, in particular, iOS devices, as restrictions enforced by Apple that inhibit the ability to offer cloud gaming services on the platform). In June 2021, Microsoft stated that it was working on a Game Pass app for smart TVs , as well as a " standalone streaming device ". Both of these offerings would be built around xCloud. In December 2021, Microsoft announced
4585-488: Is estimated to be four times as powerful as Xbox One X, with support for 8K resolution and up to 120 frames-per-second rendering, with a nominal target of 4K resolution at 60 frames per second. The Xbox Series S is a digital-only unit with less graphic processing power, but can still render at a nominal 1440p resolution at 60 frames per second with support for 4K upscaling. Both consoles features support for new graphics rendering systems including real-time ray-tracing , and
4716-528: Is for casual gamers, Family is for family-friendly gamers (without profanity, etc.), Pro is for competitive gamers who enjoy a challenge, and Underground is for no-holds-barred gaming where anything goes (as long as it does not violate the Xbox Live Terms of Use). However, in practice these gamer zones were displayed only on the Gamercard of the player, and did not tend to affect the gameplay experience or
4847-546: Is how many players are playing the games that they buy, how they play." which journalists have taken as a route to de-emphasize console hardware and prioritize games, subscriptions and services for players. Later in February 2020, Spencer said that moving forward, the company does not see "traditional gaming companies" like Nintendo and Sony as their competitors but instead those that offer cloud computing services such as Amazon and Google . Spencer identified that Microsoft Azure
4978-444: Is labelled with the Xbox logo, and is used to turn on the console/controller and to access the guide menu. It is also surrounded by the "ring of light", which indicates the controller number, as well as flashing when connecting and to provide notifications. The left and right "shoulders" each feature a digital shoulder button, or "bumper", and an analog trigger. The Xbox One console has a revised controller with forty improvements over
5109-406: Is no limit to the number of games a player can download and install to their consoles, other than the amount of storage space available to the console. As long as a game remains in the catalog, it is available for unlimited download and play by subscribers. Players can purchase games in the catalog at a 20% discount, and any related add-on content for those games at a 10% discount. The discounted price
5240-458: Is not limited to just Xbox and Windows platforms but also is compatible with the PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. Kinect (stylized as KINECT ) is a motion sensing input device by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game console and Windows PCs . Based around a webcam -style add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 console, it enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without
5371-469: Is offered from MTV , VH1 , Comedy Central , Turner Broadcasting and CBS ; and movie content is Warner Bros. , Paramount and Disney , along with other publishers. Originally called Live Anywhere, Play Anywhere is a cross-platform service allowing owners of Xbox and Windows games the ability to use said games on either operating system. Under the scheme, supported games purchased digitally on Microsoft Store for Xbox One can also be downloaded on
Xbox Game Pass - Misplaced Pages Continue
5502-768: Is produced by Microsoft Gaming , a division of Microsoft . The brand was first introduced in the United States in November 2001, with the launch of the original Xbox console . The Xbox branding was formerly, from 2012 to 2015, used as Microsoft's digital media entertainment brand replacing Zune . In 2022, Microsoft expanded its gaming business and reorganized Xbox to become part of its newly formed Microsoft Gaming division. Under Microsoft Gaming, Xbox's first-party publishers are Xbox Game Studios , ZeniMax Media ( Bethesda Softworks ), and Activision Blizzard ( Activision , Blizzard Entertainment , and King ), who own numerous studios and successful franchises. The original device
5633-524: Is required for any online multiplayer content the games in the catalog may contain. As part of Microsoft's E3 2017 press conference, Microsoft announced that selected Xbox titles would be made available through a new backwards-compatibility feature similar to that in place for Xbox 360 titles. In a later interview, Spencer stated that some of those games could make their way onto Game Pass, as well. On January 23, 2018, Microsoft announced an expansion of Game Pass that would see first-party titles arrive on
5764-560: Is the Microsoft 's Xbox cloud gaming streaming service. In 2019, Microsoft released a content filtering to stop swearing and toxicity in online gaming. The service enables players to report messages, Gamertags , photos, and any other toxic content on its platform. Xbox Game Pass is a subscription service from Microsoft for use with the Xbox One , Xbox Series X/S , Windows 10 and Windows 11 . The Xbox Game Pass grants users access to
5895-470: Is the attempt of Microsoft to promote a message of responsible gaming. Released in 2001, the Xbox control pad was the first controller made for the original Xbox . The Xbox controller features two analog sticks , a pressure-sensitive directional pad, two analog triggers, a Back button, a Start button, two accessory slots and six 8-bit analog action buttons (A/Green, B/Red, X/Blue, Y/Yellow, and Black and White buttons). The original Xbox controller (nicknamed
6026-572: The Guinness World Record of being the "fastest selling consumer electronics device" after selling a total of 8 million units in its first 60 days. 24 million units of the Kinect sensor had been shipped as of January 2012. Xbox Live Gold The Xbox network , formerly known and commonly referred to as Xbox Live , is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Gaming for
6157-486: The Play Anywhere initiative. Microsoft's former mobile operating system , Windows Phone , included full Xbox Live functionality until it was discontinued. The service shut down for the original Xbox on April 15, 2010, and original Xbox Games are now only playable online through Insignia , an unofficial Xbox Live replacement service, or through local area network (LAN) tunneling applications. Xbox network service
6288-585: The Windows NT operating system; the original Xbox and the Xbox 360 system software are based on Windows 2000 , and the latest system software for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S is based on Windows 11 , with support for Universal Windows Platform (UWP) applications. In May 2020, Xbox presented a preview version of an app that allows parents and guardians to set daily limits for their children's playing time, provides weekly activity reports, filters out age-restricted games, and places limits on online communication. This
6419-464: The Xbox brand. It was first made available to the original Xbox console on November 15, 2002. An updated version of the service, adding the Xbox Live Marketplace , became available with the Xbox 360 console launch in November 2005, and a further enhanced version was released in 2013 with the Xbox One . The service is used on the latest Xbox Series X and Series S and, in addition to
6550-635: The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S that launched on November 10, 2020. Both are considered members of the ninth generation of video game consoles alongside the PlayStation 5 , also released that month. Like the Xbox One, the consoles use an AMD 64-bit x86-64 CPU and GPU with up to 16 GB of memory. The Xbox Series X and Series S are high-end and low-end versions comparable to the Xbox One X and Xbox One S models, respectively, with all games designed for this model family playable on both systems. The Xbox Series X
6681-468: The Xbox Series X and Series S , were released in November 2020. The head of Xbox is Phil Spencer , who succeeded former head Marc Whitten in late March 2014. When Sony Computer Entertainment first announced the PlayStation 2 in 1999, the company had positioned the console as a centerpiece for home entertainment, as it not only would play video games, but also could play audio CDs and video DVDs. Microsoft, whose business had been primarily in supporting
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#17328514075626812-425: The eighth generation of video game consoles. It features an AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) built around the 64-bit x86-64 instruction set and can come with up to 12 GB of memory. Announced on May 21, 2013, the Xbox One has an emphasis on internet-based features, including the ability to record and stream gameplay, and the ability to integrate with a set-top box to watch cable or satellite TV through
6943-527: The "Fatty" and later the "Duke" ) was the controller initially bundled with Xbox systems for all territories except Japan, which received a more compact controller called the Controller S. The Controller S was later made the standard included controller in all territories. Released in 2005, the Xbox 360 controller for the Xbox 360 succeeded its predecessor. A standard Xbox 360 controller features eleven digital buttons, two analog triggers, two analog sticks and
7074-448: The 360's controller. This new controller is built to work with Kinect. The Start and Back buttons are replaced with Menu and View buttons. It has impulse triggers that replace the regular triggers. The Xbox button still brings up the mini-guide as of recent dashboard versions, though in earlier iterations it brought up the main dashboard menu while leaving the game uninterrupted. The fourth generation Xbox Controller doesn't change much from
7205-504: The 6-month and 12-month subscription price increases would not affect existing subscribers when they resubscribed at the same level, nor those already subscribed through the Xbox Games Pass Ultimate program. However, after complaints from the Xbox community, Microsoft made an announcement on the same day that they revoked their decision, and that they would not increase the prices of any of the subscriptions, thus they would remain
7336-625: The Game Pass as more of a platform to offer games that do not fit the common mold that sell well and would be difficult to gain a publisher, and instead to allow these games to be offered in the subscription model, encouraging both developers to create new and experimental titles. The Game Pass also provides a way for players to try games they would not normally have purchased. The catalog features select games for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One as well as select Xbox 360 and Xbox titles with which Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One are backwards-compatible. There
7467-577: The Japanese gaming market. The main interface for all four generations of Xbox has been the Xbox Dashboard, which allows users to manage games stored on the console, play media, and access system settings. Since 2002, the Dashboard has been integrated with the Xbox network which provides online functionality and storefront options. The operating systems for all Xbox platforms are heavily modified versions of
7598-860: The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. On March 29, 2022, the PC Game Pass Preview launched in five more Southeast Asian countries (the first one was Singapore), including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The service has been officially launched in these countries on April 21, 2022. The PC Game Pass service has also expanded to several European, North Africa, and Middle East countries through
7729-616: The Store is in Global currency USD, not in local currency. Users from other countries are not officially supported, although it is possible for them to access Xbox network if they provide an address located in a country where Xbox network is officially available. The country selected during account creation affects the payment options, content, and services available to the user. Previously, users were unable to change their account region, but in October 2012, Microsoft introduced an account migration tool as
7860-463: The Video Marketplace. They expire in 14 days after download or at the end of the first 24 hours after the movie has begun playing, whichever comes first. Television episodes can be purchased to own, and are transferable to an unlimited number of consoles. Downloaded files use 5.1 surround audio and are encoded using VC-1 for video at 720p, with a bitrate of 6.8 Mbit/s. Television content
7991-473: The Xbox 360 and original Xbox titles that were made available for Xbox One. Games using the Xbox and Xbox Live brands have also been released for Microsoft Windows , Windows Phone , Android , and iOS devices. Xbox games can also be played using the Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming service. Microsoft has used the razor and blades model to sell the family of Xbox consoles, selling the console at or below
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#17328514075628122-566: The Xbox 360 was the Xbox 360 E, released in 2013. It featured a case style similar to the upcoming Xbox One , and eliminated one USB port and the S/PDIF, YPbPr component and S-video connections, but otherwise shared the same specifications as the Xbox 360 S. The Xbox One was released on November 22, 2013, in North America, as the successor to the Xbox 360. The Xbox One competed with Sony's PlayStation 4 and Nintendo's Wii U and Switch as part of
8253-441: The Xbox 360 which uses an advanced sensor system. Two major revisions of the Xbox 360 were released following the initial launch. The Xbox 360 S (typically considered as "Slim"), launched in 2010, featured the same core hardware but with a redesigned, slimmer form factor with a smaller-sized 250 GB hard drive. It also added integrated 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, TOSLINK S/PDIF optical audio output, five USB 2.0 ports (compared to
8384-451: The Xbox 360. Launched in the United States on November 22, 2006, the first anniversary of the Xbox 360's launch, the service allows users in the United States to download high-definition and standard-definition television shows for purchase and movies for rental onto an Xbox 360 console for viewing. With the exception of short clips, content is not currently available for streaming, and must be downloaded. Movies are available for rental from
8515-508: The Xbox Game Pass subscription). A gamertag is the universal name for a player's username on the Xbox network. A gamertag is a unique identifier, and can include numbers, letters, and spaces. Gamertags can be changed using an Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, or Xbox 360 console (first time is free, all other changes afterwards are charged), while the Xbox 360 supports eight Xbox network-enabled profiles per memory unit and thirty-two profiles on
8646-474: The Xbox One as more of an entertainment hub and not a gaming console, and certain design decisions made prior to launch had to be reverted following negative criticism of this positioning from consumers and the media. Spencer, after taking over the Xbox brand, recognized he needed to put the Xbox in a better position as they planned for the next generation of the console, while reinvigorating the team he had with new ideas for this, even if his ideas were risky. One of
8777-597: The Xbox One controller, but the new wireless Xbox Controller does add a capture and share button, a hybrid d-pad , and better gripping on the bumpers and triggers. The controller is also promised to be cross compatible with certain PC's and mobile devices . The Xbox Adaptive Controller is a special controller designed for accessibility features for players. Besides being physically larger than typical controllers, it includes additional ports to allow other devices to be connected and mapped to other controller functions. The controller
8908-431: The Xbox One line. Xbox head Phil Spencer said that while they do internally track sales figures, they do not want their developers to be focused on these numbers as to affect their products, and thus have opted not to report further sales of Xbox hardware going forward. In July 2023, Microsoft revealed that the Xbox One line has sold over 58 million units. The fourth generation of Xbox models, simply named Xbox, includes
9039-580: The Xbox Series X/S version over the first few years of the consoles' launch. The following table is a comparison of the four generations of Xbox hardware. Best selling non-bundled game: Grand Theft Auto V , 22.95 million See Xbox 360 accessories See Xbox One accessories See Xbox One accessories Various monitor resolutions available via VGA and HDMI/DVI (640×480, 848×480, 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×768, 1280×1024, 1360×768, 1440×900, 1680×1050 & 1920×1080) Amid rumors that Microsoft may drop
9170-401: The Xbox app, subject to Xbox approval. Users were formerly forbidden to use strings such as gay or refer to homosexuality in any way in their gamertag or profile due to it being considered "content of a sexual nature", even if the string occurs in a legitimate surname. Incidents where a woman was suspended from the service for identifying herself as a lesbian , and an incident where a male user
9301-405: The Xbox first started on November 15, 2002, worldwide. The service is still active and continues to be played by gamers. Microsoft Store is an online marketplace made for Microsoft's Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles. The marketplace is where you can buy games, apps, movies, etc. through digital download . The Xbox 360 console uses the previous Xbox Games Store client. The Xbox app
9432-401: The Xbox hardware product line to focus on multiplatform software releases, Spencer stated in February 2024 that Microsoft remains committed to the Xbox console, with its first party studios through Microsoft Gaming supporting day-one releases on the Xbox first and foremost. He further said that Microsoft plans to publicly discuss its next generation of hardware in late 2024. Each console has
9563-698: The Xbox network into their applications and games. Microsoft also stated that they were looking to bring this functionality to the Nintendo Switch , anticipating this to be a post-launch feature for the Switch port of Cuphead . Play Anywhere was originally released as Live Anywhere as a cross-platform initiative to bring the Xbox network to a wide variety of Microsoft platforms and devices, including Xbox , Xbox 360 , Microsoft Windows ( XP SP2 /SP3, Vista and 7 ), Windows Phone , and Zune . Microsoft's Chris Early said of Live Anywhere in 2006 that "it [was]
9694-565: The Xbox went on sale), and Nintendo's GameCube . Built around a 733 MHz 32-bit Intel Pentium III CPU and a 233 MHz Nvidia GeForce 3-based NV2A GPU with 64 MB of memory, the Xbox was the first console offered by an American company after the Atari Jaguar stopped sales in 1996. Its name was derived from a contraction of DirectX Box , a reference to Microsoft's graphics API , DirectX . The integrated Xbox Live service launched in November 2002 allowed players to play games online with
9825-525: The ability to share their entire library with 10 designated "family" members, all games would have to be tied to the user's Xbox Live account and their Xbox One console, and the console would be required to connect to the Internet on a periodic basis (at least once every 24 hours) to synchronize the library, or else the console would be unable to play any games at all. After an overwhelmingly negative response from critics and consumers (who also showed concerns that
9956-510: The best-selling Xbox video game and was by far the most popular online game for the original Xbox system. The Xbox 360 was released as the successor of the original Xbox in November 2005, competing with Sony 's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo 's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles. It featured a custom triple-core 64-bit PowerPC -based processor design by IBM with 512 MB of RAM memory. As of June 2014, 84 million Xbox 360 consoles have been sold worldwide. The Xbox 360
10087-483: The catalog day-and-date with the retail release of the game, starting with the aforementioned Sea of Thieves launched on March 20, 2018. Crackdown 3 , State of Decay 2 and Forza Horizon 4 would also be added upon launch, although their launch dates were not announced at the time, and future releases in existing Microsoft franchises, such as Halo and Gears of War , would also be added upon their release. Additionally, select ID@Xbox titles are also added to
10218-509: The catalog from time to time. Xbox Game Pass allows the player to download the full game to the console; according to Head of Xbox Phil Spencer , this was done to give players "continuous, full-fidelity gameplay without having to worry about streaming, bandwidth or connectivity issues". Unlike EA Play, Xbox Game Pass offers games from a wide range of publishers, such as Bandai Namco , Capcom , WB Games , 2K Games , and first-party games from Xbox Game Studios . According to Spencer, Microsoft sees
10349-472: The console to function without Kinect. On June 13, 2016, Microsoft announced the Xbox One S at E3 2016 , which featured a smaller form factor, as well as support for 4K video (including streaming and Ultra HD Blu-ray ) and HDR . At E3 2017 , Microsoft unveiled Xbox One X , a high-end model with improved hardware designed to facilitate the playing of games at 4K resolution. Since November 2014, Microsoft has stated it will not release sales numbers for
10480-414: The console with an enhanced guide interface and Kinect-based voice control . Following its unveiling, the Xbox One proved controversial for its original digital rights management and privacy practices; while Microsoft touted the ability for users to access their library of games (regardless of whether they were purchased physically or digitally) on any Xbox One console without needing their discs, and
10611-592: The economics of the system. Spencer knew there was strong hesitation from other game publishers and developers on the subscription model, so he made plans to have Game Pass launch using a catalog of older titles, and then bring on Sea of Thieves as Microsoft's first first-party game for the service, on the same day that it would also be available at retail or purchasable through digital storefronts. Spencer had told Duncan that even if every player of Sea of Thieves played it through Game Pass and that no retail or downloadable copies were bought, Spencer would still consider that
10742-646: The first player in history to reach 1 million Gamerscore. The Gamecard is an information panel used to summarize one's user profile on Microsoft's Xbox network. The pieces of information on a Gamercard include: A player's Gamercard can be viewed via the guide, the Xbox app, or online through Xbox.com. Similarly, Mac OS X users were able to download widgets that display their Xbox Live Gamercard within Mac OS X 's Dashboard . These can be downloaded onto any Mac with OS X 10.4 or higher via Apple's widget download page . On Xbox 360, there were four Gamer Zones; Recreation
10873-542: The first time since its inception. The basic service was also renamed. Prior to October 2010, the free service was known as Xbox Live Silver . It was announced on June 10, 2011, that the service is going to be fully integrated into Microsoft's Windows 8 . In October 2011, Microsoft announced live streaming cable television with various providers. In February 2013, Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, shared that Xbox Live members now number 46 million, up 15 percent from
11004-506: The fiscal year ending January 2021, which was about 30% of Microsoft's games and services revenues, or 18% of its total Xbox business. In February 2024, Microsoft announced there were 34 million Game Pass subscribers. Xbox Game Pass is available in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico,
11135-538: The full roster of champions or heroes will be available to Game Pass subscribers, while for other titles like Legends of Runeterra , subscribers to Game Pass will receive in-game rewards. A Friends and Family tier was revealed in September 2022, with trials first released in Ireland and Colombia. The higher priced plan, estimated to be $ 25/month, allows one to share their account with up to four others, limited to those within
11266-594: The game library, excluding day one releases, has been introduced. Other plans remain the same including day-one access but will see their price increased by $ 2-3 per month, ahead of the availability of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 as a day-one title on the service. Xbox Game Pass is similar to Xbox One's existing EA Play video game subscription and to the PlayStation Now service offered by rival Sony . The subscription catalog contained more than 100 games at launch, with games being added to, and sometimes withdrawn from,
11397-470: The game". While there had been rumors that Microsoft was working to bring Xbox Game Pass to other console platforms like the PlayStation or Nintendo Switch , Spencer said in an August 2021 interview that there are currently no plans for these consoles. Spencer said "We have no plans to bring [the full Xbox experience] to any other kind of closed platforms right now, mainly because those closed platforms don't want something like Game Pass" and that their focus
11528-467: The hard drive. A player's Gamertag account status can be checked using a variety of online tools, which is useful especially when looking for a new gamertag, or confirming that a gamertag exists. Using a valid gamertag, any player can be found and messaged from within the network. There are also several websites which allow users of gamertags to upload photos and information about themselves. Gamertags also contain avatar images (or "gamer pictures"), with
11659-413: The ideas generated during this time was a game rental service, and a project to establish this service was started under the code name Arches. As Microsoft progressed, online streaming services like Netflix and Spotify demonstrated successful subscription business models that led Microsoft to transition Arches to also follow a subscription model eventually into Game Pass. The concept of Game Pass fit into
11790-401: The interim. If the game is an Xbox 360 title, it will be backward-compatible and must be used on Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One; it cannot be downloaded to a player's Xbox 360 console unless the player chooses to purchase it. Spencer has stated that Microsoft has multiple ways to compensate developers for games on Game Pass and there is no one single payback approach. The payback scheme ranges from
11921-457: The larger corporate strategy of Microsoft to push cloud-based services under CEO Satya Nadella . The second area involved Rare , a game developer that Microsoft had acquired in 2002. During Mattrick's period at Xbox, he had positioned the Kinect motion-sensing peripheral (introduced with the Xbox 360 ) as a major component of the Xbox environment, and assigned Rare to work on Kinect Sports as
12052-508: The matching of players in online games . TrueSkill is a ranking and matchmaking system which was first implemented as part of the Xbox 360's Live service. Developed at Microsoft Research Cambridge ( United Kingdom ), the TrueSkill ranking system is now used in over 150 titles for the Xbox 360 and was used in the Games for Windows – Live game Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II . It uses
12183-592: The most recent being the Xbox Series X and Series S units. The Xbox has become a direct competitor to Sony's PlayStation brand, both offering high performance gaming systems at roughly similar specifications. Microsoft has been recently working to leverage the branding of "Xbox" beyond the console hardware but as a general video game brand, reflected in the renaming of Microsoft Studios to Xbox Game Studios in 2019. Phil Spencer stated in June 2019 that for Microsoft, "The business isn't how many consoles you sell. The business
12314-456: The name, using the name "Xbox" as a control believing this would be least desirable, but found that this had the highest preference from their tests, and was selected as the name of the console. While the original Xbox had modest sales, Microsoft took a large financial loss to support it. However, its performance was sufficient to convince the company to continue to produce the line. Since its release, there have been four generations of Xbox, with
12445-501: The need to touch a game controller , through a natural user interface using gestures and spoken commands . The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond its typical gamer base. Kinect competes with the Wii Remote Plus and PlayStation Move with PlayStation Eye motion controllers for the Wii and PlayStation 3 home consoles, respectively. A version for Windows
12576-616: The new Xbox Velocity Architecture that works with the internal SSD drive to maximize the rate of texture streaming to the graphics processor, among other features. Besides games for this new console family, both consoles are fully compatible with all Xbox One games and most hardware, as well as all backward compatible games that were playable on the Xbox One from the Xbox 360 and original Xbox console. To help transition consumers, Microsoft introduced its Smart Delivery system which most of its first-party games and several third-party games will use to offer free updates to Xbox One versions of games to
12707-643: The option of adding up to 250 points via downloadable content every quarter after the first year of release (for a total of 1,750 points). Xbox Live Arcade titles also allowed players to obtain Gamerscore, initially up to 200 Gamerscore with additional points up to 50 Gamerscore via downloadable content (for a total of 250 points), but some XBLA games now contain up to 400 Gamerscore without DLC. On March 25, 2008, Microsoft cracked down on "Gamerscore cheaters" (those who used external tools to artificially inflate their Gamerscore), and reduced their Gamerscores to zero without
12838-523: The option to recover the scores that had been "earned", and branded the player by denoting on their Gamertag that they were a "Cheater". The development of the Gamerscore system had created a new niche in the internet economy. Many websites have been created to provide gamers with tips and tricks for getting achievement points. Some sites are solely devoted to these achievement guides, and some blogs provide gaming guides in addition to their other content. On March 13, 2014, Ray Cox IV or "Stallion83" became
12969-399: The original Xbox console featured a trademark luminescent orange-gold bar underneath the Xbox header. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Brute Force sported a Live "bubble" design, as they only featured downloadable content. It was changed later, wherein all Xbox Live titles included the universal orange-gold Live bar. By the time of the Xbox 360, all titles were required to provide at least
13100-527: The personal computer (PC) business with its Windows operating system, software, and games, saw the PlayStation 2 as a threat to the personal computer. Four engineers from Microsoft's DirectX team—Kevin Bachus, Seamus Blackley , Ted Hase and DirectX team leader Otto Berkes, began to envision what a Microsoft console to compete against the PlayStation 2 would be like. They designed a system that would use many hardware components in common with PCs, effectively running
13231-402: The place where they will offer their first-party games first for Xbox and Windows. A number of pricing changes and tier offerings were made as of September 12, 2024. New users are no longer be able to buy into the console-only tier digitally, though existing users will remain on this plan for at least a year before migration. Instead, a new Standard tier, offering Xbox Live services and access to
13362-514: The price of its manufacturing costs, while earning revenue from licensing fees it collects from publishers and developers and from its services offered to players. Xbox network (formerly known as Xbox Live) is an online service with over 65 million users worldwide (as of July 2019). It comprises an online virtual market, the Xbox Games Store , which allows the purchase and download of games and various forms of multimedia. Online gaming on
13493-643: The rebranding of Xbox Game Pass for PC as "PC Game Pass" to reduce market confusion. The service continues to be branded with the Xbox logo. On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced that Game Pass had surpassed 25 million subscribers. On that same day, Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard and to begin integrating Activision's catalog of games into Game Pass. Riot Games , which has traditionally offered its games through its own launcher, announced in June 2022 that they will be adding their free-to-play games including League of Legends to Xbox Game Pass later in 2022. For games like League of Legends ,
13624-561: The same as they were. Microsoft officially announced that they would be branding Xbox Live as "Xbox network" in March 2021 as to cover all the services related to Xbox and not just Xbox Live. Xbox Live Gold would remain the same name and to distinguish the subscription program from the set of services. Microsoft also stated that with this, it will eliminate the requirement to have Xbox Live Gold to play free-to-play games on Xbox consoles. By January 2021, Microsoft reported that there were more than 100 million Xbox users (including those through
13755-432: The same country as the account holder. Since launch, Microsoft had offered an introductory $ 1/mo rate for new subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Microsoft announced it was discontinuing this promotion in March 2023 and was looking for potential replacement options to draw in new subscribers. Microsoft replaced Xbox Live Gold with a new Xbox Game Pass tier, called Xbox Game Pass Core, on September 14, 2023. Core carries
13886-399: The same day, Larry Hyrb , Xbox Live's Major Nelson, announced on his blog that Xbox Live support for the original Xbox would be discontinued on April 15, 2010, including online play through backwards compatibility on the Xbox 360 and all downloadable content for original Xbox games. In August 2010, Microsoft announced an increase to the cost of Xbox Live Gold in several countries by 20%, for
14017-462: The same features as Xbox Live Gold (including online multiplayer for non- free-to-play games), and offers a library of 36 games at launch, which is expected to expand and change over time, similar to the main Game Pass library. While Spencer described how Microsoft will be making select Xbox exclusives available on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch in February 2024, he stated there were no plans to bringing Game Pass to these platforms, instead remaining
14148-550: The service on their release dates, the first being Robocraft Infinity . Spencer has stated that Microsoft's intent with Xbox Game Pass is to make it available across many devices, including those of their competitors. Spencer stated "We want to bring Game Pass to any device that somebody wants to play on...Not just because it's our business, but really because the business model allows for people to consume and find games that they wouldn't have played in any other space." On April 18, 2019, Microsoft announced Xbox Game Pass Ultimate ,
14279-622: The service will be launching in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in three days time. On November 4, Microsoft announced that the service would be launched on November 29 in Argentina and Israel . The service also appeared in the following month in Slovakia and Turkey . The service was launched in China in late 2014. As Microsoft developed the original Xbox console, online gaming
14410-999: The service's library and their respective downloadable content (DLC). The service consists of two products; Xbox Game Pass for Xbox One , Series X, and Series S consoles, and PC Game Pass for PCs running Windows 10 and Windows 11 . Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass are available as separate subscription products. A premium tier known as Game Pass Ultimate includes access to both services, in addition to Xbox Cloud Gaming , an on-demand cloud gaming available on console, PC, and mobile platforms, and Xbox Game Pass Core subscription benefits. The service features titles from first-party Microsoft Gaming subsidiaries Xbox Game Studios and ZeniMax Media , as well as other third-party publishers. Since January 2018, all new Xbox Game Studios titles have been available to Game Pass subscribers immediately upon their release. Microsoft has also offered access to Electronic Arts 's EA Play service for PC Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. Xbox Live Gold
14541-461: The service. As part of a published report as part of Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision-Blizzard in 2022, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority reported that Game Pass did cannibalize sales of games for around the first year they are present on the service. Spencer acknowledged the report, but stated the "you instantly have more players of the game, which is actually leading to more sales of
14672-475: The services. Support for additional Android mobile devices are expected later. Alongside the release of Xbox Series X and Series S , EA Play was added to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on console and Xbox Cloud Gaming on November 10, 2020, before expanding to PC for Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass for PC subscribers on March 18, 2021. A web application for Xbox Cloud Gaming entered an invite-only beta in April 2021, and became generally available in June 2021; it
14803-472: The stock images sometimes associated with certain games or game characters. On Xbox 360, individual gamerpics are available, but they are usually bundled into packs. It is also possible to take "Public" pictures (which are shown to all that view a profile, unless the user has a different "personal" picture set) which can be taken of avatars while using the avatar editor. On Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, players are able to upload custom images of their choice through
14934-735: The system attempts to match individuals based on their estimated skill level. If two individuals are competing head-to-head and have the same estimated skill level with low estimate uncertainty, they should each have roughly a 50% chance of winning a match. In this way, the system attempts to make every match as competitive as possible. In order to prevent abuse of the system, the majority of ranked games have relatively limited options for matchmaking. By design, players cannot easily play with their friends in ranked games. However, these countermeasures have failed due to techniques such as alternate account(s) and system flaws where each system has its own individual TrueSkill rating. To provide less competitive games,
15065-417: The system could prevent or hinder the resale of used games ), Microsoft announced that these restrictions would be dropped. Microsoft was also criticized for requiring the Xbox One to have its updated Kinect peripheral plugged in to function, which critics and privacy advocates believed could be used as a surveillance device. As a gesture toward showing a commitment to user privacy, Microsoft decided to allow
15196-617: The system supports unranked Player Matches , which allow individuals of any skill level to be paired (often including "guests" on an account). Such matches do not contribute to the TrueSkill rating. The Microsoft Store is the current digital marketplace for the Xbox ecosystem starting in 2017 for the Xbox One. It is available on consoles and on Xbox's website (as well as its own website), offering games from across all of Xbox's generations, in addition to movies, television shows, and multiple apps available as streaming services for music or television. Xbox Games Store (formerly Xbox Live Marketplace)
15327-455: The three from older versions) and a special port designed for the Kinect peripheral. The Xbox 360 S replaced the base Xbox 360 unit, which was discontinued, and sold at the same price. A cheaper Xbox 360 S unit, removing the 250 GB drive while adding 4 GB of internal storage, was released later in 2010; the unit allowed users to hook up an external storage solution or purchase a 250 GB internal add-on. The second major revision of
15458-458: The throughput of a broadband connection and the storage space of a hard disk drive , and thus these features would be vital to the new platform. This would allow not only for significant downloadable content, such as new levels, maps, weapons, challenges and characters, to be downloaded quickly and stored, but also would make it possible to standardize bandwidth intensive features such as voice communication. Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates both had
15589-421: The turn of the century. When the Xbox launched on November 15, 2001, the as-yet unnamed online service was destined for a Summer 2002 deployment. Xbox Live was finally given a name at E3 2002 when the service was unveiled in its entirety. Sound-dampened booths and broadband-connected Xbox consoles—featuring an early version of Unreal Championship —demonstrated the service on the show floor. The Epic title
15720-439: The week starting January 23 through January 27 as compensation. On November 12, 2009, Dennis Durkin, COO of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business, announced that November 10, 2009, the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 marked the busiest day ever on Xbox Live, with over two million active users simultaneously. On February 5, 2010, Marc Whitten announced that Xbox Live had reached 23 million members. On
15851-618: Was a unified storefront for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One which offered both free and premium content for download including Xbox Live Arcade titles, Xbox indie games , original Xbox games , Xbox 360 game demos, game expansion material (e.g. extra maps, vehicles, songs), trailers, gamer pictures and themes, television shows, music videos , movie rentals, Apps and games and more. On November 6, 2006, Microsoft announced Microsoft Movies & TV (Microsoft Films & TV in other supported countries) (formerly Xbox Video Marketplace, Xbox Video and Zune Video), an exclusive video store accessible through
15982-417: Was considered "completely sustainable" despite concerns from some developers that they were undercharging for it, and that Microsoft had no plans to raise the price in the near future. Xbox Cloud Gaming (codenamed "xCloud") launched for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on September 15, 2020, which adds the ability for cloud gaming to select Android mobile devices, with initially over 100 games optimized for
16113-577: Was designated as one of the key pillars for the greater Xbox strategy. Sega had made an attempt to capitalize on the ever-growing online gaming scene when it launched the Dreamcast video game console in 1999, including online support as standard, with the SegaNet service in North America and Dreamarena in Europe. Nevertheless, due to lack of widespread broadband adoption at the time, the Dreamcast shipped with only
16244-445: Was discontinued on September 14, 2023, with the service being merged into Xbox Game Pass as a new low price tier, Xbox Game Pass Core , which offers a limited set of free titles to subscribers. Conception of what would become Game Pass came from two areas. First was with Phil Spencer taking over for Don Mattrick as the head of the Xbox brand at Microsoft following the troubled launch of the Xbox One in 2013. Mattrick had positioned
16375-580: Was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detailed launch and game information divulged later that month at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The console sold out completely upon release in all regions except in Japan. Several retail configurations of the core Xbox 360 model were offered over its lifetime, varying the amount of RAM and internal storage offered. The Xbox 360 showed an expanded Xbox Live service (which now included
16506-568: Was on making it available to open systems like personal computers and web applications. In the Q3 2020 earnings call in April 2020, Microsoft reported that there were over 10 million Xbox Game Pass subscribers. By September 2020, it had reached 15 million subscribers, 18 million by January 2021, and over 25 million by January 2022. According to documents related to the Activision Blizzard acquisition , Game Pass had total revenues of $ 2.9 billion in
16637-436: Was one of the flagship titles for the service, which was slated for a debut on November 15, 2002, marking the anniversary of the Xbox launch. Microsoft announced that 50 Xbox Live titles would be available by the end of 2003. Utilizing the required broadband bandwidth, Xbox Live featured a unified gaming "Friends List", as well as a single identity across all titles (regardless of the publisher), and standardized voice chat with
16768-507: Was released on February 1, 2012. Kinect was launched in North America on November 4, 2010, in Europe on November 10, 2010, in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore on November 18, 2010, and in Japan on November 20, 2010. Purchase options for the sensor peripheral include a bundle with the game Kinect Adventures and console bundles with either a 4 GB or 250 GB Xbox 360 console and Kinect Adventures . The Kinect claimed
16899-420: Was strategizing the Xbox branding for the future. The original Xbox was released in North America on November 15, 2001, in Japan on February 22, 2002, and in Australia and Europe on March 14, 2002, marking Microsoft's debut in the gaming console market. As part of the sixth generation of video game consoles , the Xbox competed with Sony's PlayStation 2 , Sega's Dreamcast (which stopped American sales before
17030-604: Was suspended for using his surname "Gaywood" in his username attracted controversy. In February 2009, Xbox Live Lead Program Manager for Enforcement Stephen Toulouse clarified the service's policy on sexual identification, stating that "Expression of any sexual orientation [...] is not allowed in Gamertags" but that the company is "examining how we can provide it in a way that won't get misused". Changes announced in March 2010 permit Xbox Live members to express sexual orientation in their gamertags and profiles. The Gamerscore (G)
17161-419: Was the first video game console offered by an American company after the Atari Jaguar stopped sales in 1996. It reached over 24 million units sold by May 2006. Microsoft's second console, the Xbox 360 , was released in 2005 and has sold 86 million units as of October 2021. The third console, the Xbox One , was released in November 2013 and has sold 58 million units. The fourth line of Xbox consoles,
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