“This is an Xbox” means our household doesn’t need an actual Xbox

Me from two years ago would have thought my current self mad.

Two years ago, I was chasing 1,000,000 Gamerscore. A year and a half ago, I switched from my Xbox Series X to my PS5. Today, I’ve just disconnected Xboxes from the two TV screens we have at home.

Surely this wasn’t what Microsoft had in mind.

Since I switched over to PS5 back in April 2024, even more Xbox games have made the move over to PlayStation, including Forza Horizon 5, Gears of War Reloaded, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and newbies like The Outer Worlds 2 and Ninja Gaiden 4 — both of which Microsoft provided pre-release PS5 code to me, I might add. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is on the way this year, and we already know that Forza Horizon 6 and Halo Campaign Evolved will either head to PS5 on day and date, or after an Xbox release.

I don’t have an Xbox connected any TV in my house any longer, but I don’t need to. My swish LG TV has Xbox Game Streaming compatibility, and I have an MSI Claw 7 and a ROG Xbox Ally X that I could connect to either TV in a pinch — both will play Xbox games, provided they’re in Xbox Play Anywhere or Xbox Game Pass. The same is true for the dedicated gaming PC in my home office.

If I want to play new games? I’ll certainly aim to play them on PS5 first; if I can’t do that, I’ll be able to play them on a PC inside the Xbox app or via Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, EA, Ubisoft… you get it. Even with Microsoft first-party titles in mind, I’ll opt to play on PS5 Pro for Trophies, and will likely benefit from the ability to unlock both Trophies and Achievements at the same time. It’s the best of both worlds.

My husband also plays a lot of games, but he made the switch to PS5 when I did and has never looked back. We turned on the Xbox Series X that used to sit downstairs last night to play Jackbox Party Pack 11; it had been so long since we’d both logged in that Microsoft made us reauthenticate to do so. The Series X also had a backlog of 23 games that needed updates, even though the console had been powered and connected to the internet the whole while.

“Oh, yuck,” my husband added when he picked up his Xbox Elite Controller. “Yeah, I definitely like the other controller more,” he continued, referring to the DualSense. (He’s still wrong on that front…)

If I want to play old games, and there’s something I can’t access within the Xbox ecosystem with my current setup? Well, I’ve got an Xbox 360 and an Xbox Series S stashed away in a closet for emergencies.

Back in April last year, I’d just earned my 10th Platinum Trophy on PS5. Today, I’m at 53. My most recent is Star Trek on PS3, meaning I dug my old console out of the closet; it’s actually sitting under my home office desk where my Xbox Series S used to be. That’s where I’m at with Xbox right now. The entire platform is changing in ways that’ll likely help Microsoft’s bottom line — or result in a number of layoffs if this gambit doesn’t pay off — and those ways don’t really suit how I want to play. As such, I’ve moved away from it.

Quite honestly, I don’t need an Xbox console right now. I shall lean more into PC and PlayStation than ever before, and me from two years ago would have never believed it.