Can you feel that?
It's hot in here because Xbox brought the heat in 2021!
Let's find out how.
Hey everyone, my name is Rav Takhar.
Welcome to our Xbox year in review!
2021 was a big year for Microsoft; we had some amazing productivity updates with Microsoft
365, new Surface device announcements, and of course Windows 11 launched in October!
Xbox has also had an epic year.
With Xbox’s 20th anniversary in November, it truly has been a fantastic year for those
gaming with Xbox.
With so many amazing games, new hardware, features and Game Pass updates, there’s
lots to dive into.
Let's look at the 2021 Xbox Year in Review.
Before we look at 2021, let’s consider where Xbox was at the end of 2020.
Just coming off the recent launch of the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X, there was tons
of excitement to see just what the new generation of consoles could bring to the table.
However, getting your hands on one was easier said than done, as the demand during the holiday
season was high, and there were not as many consoles to go around.
Impacts on the supply chain were felt, as the Covid pandemic was making it hard to produce
consoles.
Gaming had come to the forefront of entertainment, as many were spending more time at home and
looking for avenues to stay connected with others.
With the Bethesda acquisition announcement in September and the successful launch behind
them, Xbox was poised to make a huge splash in 2021.
It first started in January with the first Xbox Series console exclusive game The Medium
by Blooper team.
A psychological horror game that allowed you to simultaneously load different world graphical
assets which was something that could only be accomplished by fast storage internalized
on Xbox Series S and X as well as PC’s that were up to the task.
Throwing in that the game was included for free on Game Pass, was a great way for gamers
to get their first taste of what was to come.
With 4 generations of Xbox games to play, gamers favorite moments and storylines live
on to be retold and shared with generations to come with back compat.
Xbox simply didn’t just make classics playable this generation but wanted to ensure those
gaming experiences were better than ever before.
It started with the updated visual enhancements in 2020 with features such as AutoHDR and
16x anisotropic filtering available for nearly all backwards compatible titles.
Games were also quick to benefit from features such as faster load times and Quick Resume.
In February, Xbox announced they were now looking to improve gameplay framerates with
FPS Boost.
FPS Boost employs a variety of new methods that allow for back compat titles to reap
the benefits that next gen console hardware has to offer.
This led to some titles being able to double their framerates with some almost quadrupling
them.
Titles such as Assassin’s Creed, Dragon Age, Gears of War, Fall Out 4 and a variety
of Lego games all benefited from FPS Boost with over 100 titles receiving the feature
by the end of 2021.
With thousands of games to play, this new generation of consoles sure has something
for everyone to be excited about.
Speaking of excitement, in March, the Bethesda acquisition by Microsoft was complete and
with the many Bethesda gaming studios joining team Xbox, along came tons of Bethesda titles
to the Game Pass library.
It didn’t take long for them to become available with 20 iconic Bethesda games being added
in March and many more to follow throughout the year.
With the acquisition complete and the addition of eight new world class gaming studios, Xbox
sits in a great position with 23 studios creating amazing games for Xbox gamers.
And that’s what it's all about at the end of the day.
The games and oh boy, were there games to be played.
From the largest Game Pass library offering yet, to must play exclusives, Xbox had them
all in 2021.
Starting off with Game Pass, Xbox bolstered an already amazingly value focused service
by including many third-party day one titles throughout 2021.
These included titles such as Outriders, MLB The Show 21, Cris Tales, The Ascent, 12 Minutes,
The Artful Escape, Back 4 Blood as well as many titles coming to Xbox for the first time
such as Hades, Octopath Traveller and Among Us.
In total, over 40 titles from third parties were included for Xbox gamers to enjoy day
one.
Regarding first party titles, the back half of the year was momentous as games such as
Microsoft Flight Simulator, Psychonauts 2, Age of Empires 4, Forza Horizon 5 and Halo
Infinite were added for console gamers to enjoy.
There was also strong ongoing support for existing games such as Sea of Thieves that
received a major update with A Pirates Life in partnership with Disney and featured Pirates
of the Caribbean content.
With all these titles being more than well received, Xbox became the place to be gaming
in 2021.
If you’ve been gaming with Game Pass, let us know some of your favorite games from 2021
in the comments below!
With so many games to play in 2021, Xbox focused on their challenge of allowing anyone to play
any game, anywhere and on any device they like.
With Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, cloud gaming was introduced in 2020, but took leaps forward
in 2021.
This started with including new devices to play on such as Windows devices and Apple
iOS based devices.
With the new browser capability, it made it easy for anyone to login and play with from
wherever they were.
Expansion to new markets such as Australia, Brazil, Japan, and Mexico also made Xbox gaming
accessible to more people than ever before.
Xbox didn’t stop there, however.
In September, they announced that Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles would now have Xbox
cloud gaming enabled, allowing even more gamers to play current generation games in their
living rooms.
Imagine being able to play a new title on launch day right away while it downloaded
in the background.
This was now a reality for so many with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Xbox didn’t take the foot of the gas in November with Forza Horizon 5 launching to
critical acclaim as well as Xbox’s 20th anniversary.
To celebrate, a 20th Anniversary Special Edition controller and headset were released to commemorate
the years that passed.
With the iconic black and green colours, as well as translucent design, both offerings
excited new and old fans alike.
This wasn’t the only hardware released, however.
On top of the myriad of colour options for Xbox controllers released throughout the year,
Halo fans were in for a treat.
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Halo alongside Xbox, a Halo Infinite Limited Edition Xbox
Series X and Elites Series 2 controller were announced to release on November 15th, the
same day as Xbox’s anniversary event.
The event featured a look back at the history of Xbox featuring some amazing moments in
Xbox’s past.
Some notable announcements included the addition of 70 more titles to the back compat library
that included Max Payne and FEAR, as well as the reveal of Power On: The Story of Xbox
documentary which would take a detail look at the past of Xbox from behind the curtain.
With the release of Halo Infinite around the corner, the first teaser of the new Paramount
Halo TV series was shown as well as a surprise announcement of the Halo Infinite Multiplayer
becoming available right away, before Halo Infinite’s release date of December 8th.
With 20 years behind Xbox, and one of the best offerings in years, The Game Awards capped
it off perfectly where Xbox titles were nominated in 11 categories and taking home the top award
in 5.
All five Xbox first party titles released this year were nominated with Halo Infinite
taking home the Players Voice award which is selected by fans, as well as Forza Horizon
5 taking home awards for Best Sports/Racing Game, Best Audio Design, and Innovation in
Accessibility.
Age of Empires IV won best sim/strategy game.
With so much delivered to Xbox gamers this year, it's easy to wonder what's next for
2022.
For this we were able to already get a glimpse throughout events in 2021 such as the Xbox
and Bethesda showcase during E3.
New IP’s Redfall and Starfield are gearing up to be released with the hype building for
Bethesda’s latest offerings.
Games such as Stalker 2 and Indies such as Somerville are already getting attention for
third party games on Xbox.
With 23 Xbox studios creating games, titles such as Fable, Avowed, and Hellblade 2 are
not too far away.
With an amazing service such as Game Pass, new games to discover and old classics to
relive are always available in a moment's notice with cloud gaming now a reality.
The future is bright for Xbox and the only thing left to do would be to jump in.
Thank you for watching our Xbox 2021 Year in Review.
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