Summary
While Microsoft is far from an unfamiliar name, having ruled the PC market since its inception, it’s one of the later entries into the console space. While the likes of Sony and Nintendo have been around since the 1980-90’s, Microsoft first laid their gaming foundations in 2001.
Since then,Xboxhas gone through a series of highs and lows seemingly alternating with each console generation. Having such a late entry into the console market, combined with a mainly Western development base, can the entirety of the Xbox library compare to that of competitor consoles? Let’s find out.
How Many Xbox Consoles Are There?
The Xbox consoles follow some of the most unconventional naming schemes in the industry, based more on marketing themes than any direct relation. Like the Wii U fiasco, that can make it a bit hard to actually follow the chronological release of Xbox consoles. No simple sequential ordering here. Let’s take a look at the whole list.
2001
2005
2013
Xbox Series X|S
2020
Due to entering the market much later than competitors,there are only four major Xbox consolesand no handhelds to speak of. On one hand, this allowed Microsoft to devote all its efforts to the consoles, including the multiple versions of the Xbox One and Series consoles.
If you want a look at every version of Xbox consoles, including the X and S variants,be sure to check out this article.
Xbox One Has Around 2,900 Games
The varying success of the Xbox consoles is like the ebb and flow of the ocean,going from great profits to extreme lulls in turn. Backwards compatibility is also a tad complicated on Xbox consoles, taking different forms on each of them. For that reason, we will exclusively becounting games that were launched natively on each console, rather than those also available through backwards compatibility.
With that said, the Xbox One actually has the most games of any Xbox console, withapproximately 2,900 games, give or take a few based on regional releases. Considering so much of the Xbox One’s life was spent in damage control following the DRM-related launch issues, it’s impressive to have gotten such a high number of games.
The Original Xbox Has 988 Games
Surprising no one, the current Xbox,the Series X|S has the least games of any Xbox console. It currently stands atjust over 400 games, though this number will be constantly growing with new releases.
In regards to consoles that have lived out their full retail life,the original Xbox has the smallest total library, once again surprising no one.It has a total of 988 games, a very respectable number considering very few international developers worked on the console.
With Microsoft’s current actions and the state of the industry at large, it’s entirely possible the Xbox Series X|S may have the smallest library of games by the time the console completes its retail run.
