For the 20th anniversary of Xbox, Microsoft has prepared many surprises for the players.At Phonandroid, we wanted to participate in the party by concocting a history of the great moments of Xbox.And necessarily, in two decades of existence, the brand experienced ups and downs before arriving at what it is today.

This November 15, 2021, Xbox celebrates its twentieth anniversary.The creation of a gaming brand and the launch of a console were a risky bet for Microsoft: at the time, the Japanese still dominated the market, especially since Sony had made everyone agree during the previous generation withHis PlayStation.

But 20 years later, Xbox has become a key player in the video game industry.Two decades which were marked by frank successes, but also by stinging setbacks.Success or failures, they all participated in forging what Xbox is today.We offer you a little step back to relive the history of the consoles and the Xbox ecosystem.

The original Xbox: promising beginnings

The development of the first Xbox was not without complications and the project was repeatedly postponed before materializing.Bill Gates began to evoke it at the end of 1999 during interviews with the press, but it was not until March 2000 for Microsoft to reveal the “X-Box Project“ in good and in good shape.The “X” refers to DirectX technology on which the console is based, and the “box” simply designates the material itself in itself.

We can consider that the real kick -off of the Xbox takes place at the 2001 E3, during which the design, the box and the controller are presented to the public and the media.Microsoft also unveils some games that will be present in the catalog, including the first halo.20 years have passed, and the shooting game is still one of Xbox's spearheads.

The Xbox finally released on November 15, 2001, in the United States.The Japanese market is served from February 22, 2002 and European players had to wait until March 14, 2002.The timing is bad for Microsoft, because the Xbox arrives more than a year after the PlayStation 2, which is a phenomenal success and still today the best -selling console of all time.In addition, Nintendo's gamecube has already been available for several months in Japan and goes out at the same time as Xbox in the United States.

To stand out from the competition, Microsoft is betting on raw power and new features, such as the presence of a hard drive to save its parts, a more practical system than the Memoir Cards.But the Xbox is too expensive when it comes out, its game catalog is not to be complained (more than 800 titles in the end), but cannot compete with that of the ps2 and the exclusives Nintendo for the GameCube, and Microsoft N'is not yet considered a serious actor on the market for show consoles.

Nevertheless, the Xbox still manages to sell more than 24 million consoles, which places it in front of the GameCube (21.7 million), thanks to successive price reductions and the enthusiasm of the American players, whichrepresent more than 15 million sales on its own.The console is on the other hand anecdotal in Japan, and Microsoft will often break his teeth on this market where he will never have managed to win.The best -selling game on Xbox was Halo 2 with nearly 8.5 million units sold out.

The Xbox Live: the beginnings of the online game on Xbox

Microsoft has developed the Xbox with the idea of putting features online in front of the game experience.But at the exit of the console, these are not ready.During the 2002 E3, the Xbox Live, an online and social gaming service requiring broadband, was finally announced.The platform offers a list of friends to connect to other Xbox players, regardless of the games themselves.It also offers a vocal chat for users equipped with a micro-cashe.

The Xbox Live 1.0 intended for the first Xbox consoles officially closes on April 15, 2010, with a fun anecdote on this subject.If it was no longer possible to join a game via Xbox Live 1.0, still connected players could not be expelled from servers.The day after the closure, 30 players are still present online on Halo 2.They are only 12 on April 24 and the last survivor will have held until May 10, 2010.

The Xbox 360: The age of maturity

The generation of confirmation for Microsoft.And perhaps even the golden age of Xbox from a purely hardware point of view and in its market share battle with PlayStation.The Xbox 360 is a hit and many players have really discovered the Xbox ecosystem with this console.The Redmond firm arrives much better prepared this time, with an almost simultaneous launch between the three major video game markets: November 22, 2005 in the United States, December 2, 2005 in Europe and December 10, 2005 in Japan.Microsoft has the firm intention of imposing itself on the generation that will democratize HD.

PlayStation 3 will only arrive later in the United States and Japan and almost 18 months after in Europe, leaving the field free to Microsoft for this new generation.The console is even in stock in the United States and Europe.The Nintendo Wii also only arrived at the end of 2006, and does not present itself as a direct competitor to the Xbox 360.This year in advance, however, had a price for Microsoft, which has neglected certain aspects in the design of the console, whose breakdown rate punctured the ceiling.The manufacturer was forced to publicly recognize the problem and extend the device warranty.

The Xbox 360 was retrocompatible with certain Xbox games.It is also the first Xbox to have a wireless controller.The console also receives an accessory that has become cult, the Kinect movement detection camera.The best -selling game of the console (22 million copies) is also Kinect Adventures, sold with the Kinect or in certain packs with the console.Otherwise, it is Minecraft and its 20 million units sold that marked this generation.Then we find GTA V (yes, already him) and a slew of call of duty titles.

The Xbox 360 has been available in many versions: Core System, Premium, Elite, Arcade… All launched between 2005 and 2007.Then in 2010, Microsoft announces the Xbox 360 Slim, in black color, more compact and lighter, consuming much less energy and less subject to heating.An even thinner and light Xbox 3, with a less flashy design, appeared in 2013.But it quickly fell into oblivion, the outgoing XboxOne One very shortly after.

With the arrival of the Xbox 360, Microsoft decides to market an Xbox Live Gold subscription which allows you to play online, free access to Xbox Live is limited in terms of functionalities.The Xbox 360 has sold around 85.8 million units all versions.It's just below the 87.4 million of the PS3, the worst generation for the Sony show consoles.

La XboxOne One : l'excès de confiance qui coûte cher

It is November 22, 2013 that XboxOne One, in the United States and several European countries, was released, including France.But why “One” when it is the major third generation of the range?More than a game console, Microsoft wanted to offer a multimedia case from which it is possible to do everything you might want to make on a TV.An all-in-one machine.One One.An argument that had a hard time convincing the players.

Globalement, le groupe américain a commis de nombreuses erreurs stratégiques avec sa XboxOne One, des boulets qu'il a traînés des années durant sans jamais parvenir à refaire son retard sur la PlayStation 4, sortie à peu près au même moment.Sony hit the bull's eye, focusing above all on video games in its communication, presenting the PS4 as the console for the players.

Après le succès de Kinect sur Xbox 360, Microsoft a fait le très mauvais choix de l'imposer sur XboxOne One, entraînant un surcoût de la console qui n'était alors pas compétitive face à la PS4. Il faudra attendre juin 2014 pour que sorte une XboxOne One sans Kinect et donc moins chère. De plus, à ses débuts, la XboxOne One ne pouvait fonctionner qu'avec la Kinect connectée, même si on ne jouait pas à des jeux qui y recouraient.Controversies related to respect for privacy have also emerged to protest against the obligation to connect the camera.A total fiasco.

And that's not all, Microsoft has completely missed its advertisement for other reasons. Il était difficile pour les développeurs indépendants de produire un jeu pour XboxOne One, car ils devaient obligatoirement se rapprocher d'un éditeur agréé pour la publication de leur titre.Internet connection was compulsory and a severe DRM policy was applied. Enfin, la XboxOne One n'était absolument pas jeux d'occasion friendly. Face au tollé, l'entreprise n'a eu d'autre choix que de revenir sur toutes ces décisions avant le lancement de la console, mais le mal était fait et la XboxOne One trainait déjà une mauvaise réputation avant même sa sortie.

Microsoft will take years to recover and regain the confidence of the players. En 2016, la XboxOne One laisse place à la XboxOne One S, une version slim plus compacte qui passe du coloris noir au blanc et prend en charge la définition 4K pour la diffusion vidéo en Blu-Ray ou en streaming.It is also very slightly more powerful.

But that year, it is the announced project scorpio which is on everyone's lips, a medium generation console which must provide performances much higher than its predecessors, and even surpass the PS4 Pro. Débarque alors le 7 novembre 2017 la XboxOne One X et ses 6 Tflops, compatible avec la 4K UHD en natif, et supportant les technologies Dolby Atmos, AMD FreeSync et Direct X12.

Pour continuer d'étoffer son line-up, Microsoft finit par proposer à partir du 7 mai 2019 la XboxOne One S All-Digital, une XboxOne One S d'entrée de gamme sans lecteur Blu-Ray qui permet d'entrer dans l'écosystème Xbox à moindre coût.An ideal solution for Xbox's new heart of strategy: Game Pass.

La XboxOne One s'est vendue à près de 50 millions d'exemplaires, très loin des scores atteints par la Xbox 360.With another anonymity in Japan.GTA V is the best -selling game on the console in front of Call of Duty Wwii, Call of Duty Black Ops III, Call of Duty Black Ops 4 and Red Dead Redemption II.Halo 5 Guardians is the exclusive title that has sold best, but does not enter the general top 10.

The Xbox Game Pass: the new Eldorado

With PlayStation 4, Sony has established itself as the undisputed leader in exclusives and AAA solo games which are full of sight.To stand out, Xbox no longer sought to imitate his rival, but preferred to focus on a subscription service giving access to a generous catalog of games.The Xbox Game Pass, quickly compared to a Netflix of the video game, was made available on June 1, 2017 and did not stop getting rich.

In games first, with more than 300 titles available, including all the Xbox Game Studios productions that join the platform on the day of their release.Then in terms of supports, since the Game Pass is no longer only accessible from an Xbox only, but also on PC via a specific subscription or included in the Game Pass Ultimate.And now with the Cloud Gaming, it is even possible to play your Xbox titles from a web browser or a mobile application on Android.

Xbox no longer refers only to a console, but to a whole gaming ecosystem available almost everywhere.The Game Pass via Xcloud must also be available soon directly on Smart TV or through a TV Dongle.With nearly 20 million subscribers who pay a monthly subscription and growth that does not stop, we understand why Microsoft has changed CAP and all bet on its game Pass for the future of Xbox in the video game.

The Xbox Series: two consoles at launch

As on the previous generation, Xbox finds himself managing a front launch with PlayStation, in November 2020.To adorn itself, the brand innovates and decides to launch two completely different consoles:

A year after their release, we still have little perspective on these consoles and the impact they will have on industry and in the hearts of the players.Microsoft does not publish its sales figures, but there was more than 8 million the number of Xbox Series sold in October 2021, behind the PS5 which would have exceeded 13 million copies sold. Mais après la catastrophe de laOne One, ce lancement reste très encourageant sachant que la demande est là et que la Xbox Series X est en rupture de stock.According to the first figures, the console also works better in Japan, a market historically resistant to Xbox.

Xbox Series X

Best prices

Xbox Series S

Best prices

Studios buyouts: Xbox invests in First Party Games

Pour faire du Game Pass un abonnement incontournable de l'industrie et offrir des exclusivités marquantes à l'écosystème Xbox, ce qui manquait sérieusement sur la génération XboxOne One, Microsoft a enchaîné le rachat de studios de développement ces dernières années.First with partners of long dates of the publisher and manufacturer, such as Playground Games (Forza Horizon, the new fable), then targeting medium -sized studios like Ninja Theory (Hellblade) or Obsidian Entertainment (The Outer Worlds,Pillars of Eternity, Grounded).Also let's not forget the 2014 takeover of Mojang Studios (Minecraft) for $ 2.5 billion.

But the thunderclap was of course the acquisition of Bethesda in 2020 for $ 7.5 billion, granting Xbox cult licenses like Doom, Fallout or Wolfenstein, but also Dishonored, The Evil Within or Prey.So many games that are made available on the Game Pass.The highly anticipated Starfield will be released on November 11, 2022 excluding on Xbox Series and PC, then The Elder Scrolls VI will inflate the Xbox catalog a few years later.

20 years of Xbox: what Microsoft has been for the occasion

Microsoft has planned to celebrate the 20 of the Halo franchise, and obviously has a few projects to celebrate as it should be Xbox's twentieth anniversary also.On November 15 at 7:00 p.m. (Paris time), Microsoft gives us an appointment on his networks (Twitch, YouTube, Facebook) to present a retrospective of these two decades.Xbox and Halo birthday wallpapers will be published, you can find them in high definition at this address.

An Xbox wireless controller and a 20th anniversary special edition stereo helmet have been announced, with a transparency design as well as iconic green keys from Xbox.Fans will also be able to obtain derivative products: t-shirts, hoodies, bag, mugs, caps, thermos…