We all know that Xbox has struggled this generation when compared to the PS4, right from the get-go in 2013. A series of PR disasters allowed Sony to pull ahead and Microsoft has never been able to make up the ground.

Back in 2013, Microsoft said that the Xbox One would require an internet connection to play games on it. That’s not exactly feasible for a large swathe of gamers who more than likely don’t have a good internet connection.

Their price point was also €100 more expensive than the PS4 which only cost €399. So if you had the choice, the vast majority would go with the cheaper option.

And why was the Xbox One €100 more expensive than the PS4? Did it have significantly better specs? No. It included a peripheral camera/motion sensor called Kinect, that didn’t even function properly.

Something tells me Microsoft has learned the hard way that bad PR at the start of a generation, can leave you playing catch up for the next 6+ years.

In the past 12 months, Microsoft has worked tirelessly to repair the damage, and to a large extent, they’ve succeeded. They’ve introduced a program called Game Pass which for just €9.99 a month allows you to download a host of games directly onto your system.

Backwards compatibility with 360 and OG Xbox games gave more goodwill to Microsoft. Especially considering Sony has just refused time and time again to make it available.

The Xbox One X has gone down a treat with gamers far outselling what most analysts predicted it would. In fact, according to Matt Pachter, the X shows the highest growth when compared with PlayStation and Nintendo.

All Xbox has to do now for the next couple of years is to keep the momentum going. In the final years of this generation, Microsoft has shown themselves to be the company that will listen to fans whether with increasing the number of backwards compatible games or allowing crossplay with Nintendo Switch owners. With games like Fortnite continuing to pull in tens of millions of players, Crossplay is a very useful option to have if your Microsoft.

And with Microsoft having purchased six studios and created an entirely new one in the last 6 months, you can be sure that exclusive games are high on their to-do list.

I for one can’t wait to see what Microsoft and Sony have up their sleeves in the next year or so.