Like the other console makers (not to mention every other company mimicking Spotify), Xbox typically releases a personal annualized recap, letting you look back on what that year entailed for you. With this month marking the 25th anniversary of Xbox as a brand, the company has delivered a supersized version of that feature, the Playback Archive, letting you see your full Xbox history over that span. It should be a fun, celebratory thing. Instead, I find it depressing.
This has been a rough year for Xbox. It’s certainly not the first time that’s been true in the company’s history, but this is a whole different level of troubling (I yearn for the days when Kinect being mandatory was the biggest issue). 2026 for Xbox has seen layoffs, a clear directive to embrace generative AI, and studio shutdowns or divestitures that signal the days of Xbox helping a game like Psychonauts 2 or South of Midnight come into being are in the past. Even amid the ongoing BDS boycott of Microsoft, the reasons to no longer feel good about investing in Xbox are mounting.
My Playback Archive dates back 23 years, to December 27, 2003, the day I bought an Xbox Live subscription at Media Play in order to play MechAssault and NBA 2K3 online. I still remember the thrill of that, even as someone who had spent plenty of time playing online games like Unreal Tournament and Phantasy Star Online. The notion that I had this single profile and access to a growing library of online games was exciting.
