The most intense year of Xbox: this is how its 2025 was between records and controversy

A year of contrasts for Microsoft: creative successes, risky moves and a strategy that continues to divide the community.

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If there’s one word that defines Xbox in 2025, it’s madness. The past year has been one of the most intense, contradictory, and difficult to interpret in the brand’s recent history, combining a flurry of releases with business decisions that have put the trust of many gamers to the test.

On the one hand, Microsoft has started to reap real rewards from its acquisition strategy. Never before has it released so many games in a single year: varied, high-quality proposals spread throughout the calendar. Studios like Obsidian shone brightly, and Xbox Game Studios demonstrated a productive capacity that had not been seen in a long time.

But that creative momentum coexisted with a series of highly debated moves. 2025 was the year when Xbox broke historical taboos: Forza and Gears arrived on PlayStation, and it was confirmed that Halo would follow the same path. It was also the year when Microsoft made it clear that the future of Xbox does not revolve around the traditional console, but rather an open, multi-platform ecosystem increasingly close to the PC.

Game Pass, prices, and the pressure of profit

The other major axis of the year was economic. Price increases in Xbox Game Pass, failed attempts to adjust premium prices, and an internal goal of high margins marked a much more aggressive course. This context helps to understand painful cancellations, studio closures, and a general sense of instability.

• Meanwhile, the Xbox Series consoles were left in a delicate position. The price increases and the loss of the exclusivity concept made it clear that Microsoft no longer sees the console as the center of its business, but rather as one option within a larger ecosystem.

A great year… difficult to celebrate

Paradoxically, all this noise has eclipsed the most important thing: 2025 was one of the best years for Xbox as a publisher. Without a single “blockbuster”, but with a constant flow of interesting, varied, and well-received games, including the decisive boost to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 thanks to Game Pass.

The final balance is complex. Xbox has demonstrated creative muscle and ambition, but it has also generated uncertainty like never before. Looking ahead to 2026, with new Fable, Gears, and the future of Halo on the horizon, the big question remains the same: where does Xbox really want to go?