Microsoft Celebrates ‘Largest Launch In Xbox History’

With the launch of the Xbox Series X|S this week, Xbox chief and all-round good-guy Phil Spencer has revealed that Microsoft celebrates “the largest launch in Xbox history”.

Xbox series x
Credit: Microsoft

Spencer revealed that Microsoft has sold more Xbox Series X|S consoles within the first 24 hours of launch than any console ever before.

Thank you for supporting the largest launch in Xbox history. In 24 hrs more new consoles sold, in more countries, than ever before,” Spencer tweeted.

This is especially impressive as the launch of the Xbox Series X|S doesn’t release alongside any major AAA exclusive titles.

The highly anticipated Halo Infinite was supposed to be an Xbox Series X|S launch title before the Master Chief’s latest adventure was delayed until 2021.

However the Xbox Series X|S are still very powerful consoles especially compared to last-gen systems.

Image from Halo
Credit: 343 Industries

So if you want to play the best versions of multi-platform titles then you can’t really go wrong with picking-up Microsoft’s latest machine.

Yet despite enhancing a number of multi-format titles and optimising the majority of last-gen titles too, arguably the biggest trump card that the Xbox consoles have in their favour is Xbox Game Pass.

Xbox Game Pass is a “Netflix-like” subscription service that offers 100’s of games to download and play which includes all first-party Xbox console exclusives for a low monthly cost.

Logo for Xbox Game Pass
Credit: Microsoft

When speaking during an interview with The Guardian Phil Spencer revealed that despite the success of the Xbox Series X|S launch he does not plan on sharing console sales numbers as it will change the focus of what drives team Xbox.

Spencer told The Guardian that Microsoft will continue to share player numbers.

The primary outcome of all the work that we do is how many players we see, and how often they play. That is what drives Xbox,” Spencer said.

We publicly disclose player numbers. That’s the thing I want us to be driven by, not how many individual pieces of plastic did we sell.

However it is worth mentioning that during the Xbox One launch of November 2013 this was then “the biggest launch in Xbox history” with more than one million consoles sold worldwide within 24 hours.In our first impressions of the Xbox Series X we described it as “a powerhouse of a console”.

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Featured Image Credit: Microsoft