Xbox Series X|S Sales Dwindle Due to Lack of First-Party Exclusives

Xbox Series X|S console sales have plummeted in recent months due to the media giant’s tight-fisted efforts to expand its Xbox Game Pass opportunities and, in turn, spend significantly less time exploring exclusive first-party IPs. In addition to the recent fall in sales—a collapse that has left a relatively mediocre number of shipped copies on the company’s record—Xbox has also been struggling to secure fresh IP for its portfolio, with only a handful of exclusive titles in its upcoming collection. It isn’t all doom and gloom, though; Xbox does, in fact, have some fantastic IP to work with, including Fable, South of Midnight, and Gears of War: E-Day, amongst several others readily available in its back pocket. Nevertheless, the fact still remains as clear as day: Xbox consoles aren’t as popular as they once were — and it’s beginning to take its toll, sadly.

According to a recent report by VGChartz, a total of 767,118 units shipped over the course of November 2024, which is, rather disappointingly, substantially less than what its competing consoles sold in the same period; PlayStation 5 went on to dispatch a whopping 4,120,898 units, and the Nintendo Switch a hearty 1,715,636.

It Isn’t All Doom and Gloom

Thankfully, there is a light at the end of this tunnel: Xbox has the rights to some of the biggest franchises in gaming, including Call of Duty, Fallout, and Diablo. The problem here, however, is that, while Xbox continues to acquire new intellectual properties and effectively monopolize its field, its inability to keep its hands on exclusive content is proving to be something of a problem for the company. Case in point, with Call of Duty being available for other platforms outside of Xbox, console users are likely to revert to their PlayStation or PC counterparts to slug through it. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword, really: Xbox wants to be inclusive of its adversaries, but at the cost of losing out on a lot of exciting opportunities.

Of course, 2025 is still in its teething phase, so the tables could quite easily turn in due course after a few significant changes. As for what’ll happen next is another question, but evidently, something needs to change in order for Microsoft to boost its numbers and repel its competitors.