Despite primarily using my Xbox Series X console as my primary gaming platform, it's become increasingly difficult to recommend people pick up the console. That line recently got fully crossed, as Microsoft announced that Xbox consoles would cost a hefty amount more than previously. An Xbox Series X now costs $600 in the United States and the Series S 512GB costs $380, bringing the prices significantly higher than the launch costs of these consoles. Those prices also bring them above the prices of a PlayStation 5, which still costs $500, and the Xbox Series X is within range of the PS5 Pro, which costs $700. With Xbox stepping away from traditional console exclusivity, why would you pick one up?

No true Xbox exclusive games

Everything will be playable elsewhere sooner or later

Doom: The Dark Ages launches on May 15, continuing Xbox's impressive 2025, but you don't need an Xbox to play it. Like some Xbox games, Doom: The Dark Ages is launching on PlayStation 5, and like all Xbox games, it's also launching on PC. Looking at the rest of Xbox's new games in 2025, they are at least available on PC as well as Xbox, with some also launching on PS5. Avowed and South of Midnight both landed on PC at launch, while the shadow dropped Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered landed on PC and PS5. While games releasing on every platform take nothing away from Xbox players, it doesn't help convince someone to pick up an Xbox.

A further issue here is that PlayStation is continuing its focus on exclusive games, with Ghost of Yōtei coming out later in 2025. PlayStation has also started porting games to PCs, but they have come years later, and the games haven't been brought to Xbox. Xbox games that don't launch on PlayStation are being ported much faster, with Indiana Jones and The Great Circle getting ported to PS5 within six months of release. If you can only buy one console, why wouldn't you buy the PS5, where you get both Xbox games and PlayStation exclusives.

A dwindling console base might mean less third-party support

Will developers continue to make Xbox games if the console base gets smaller?

While Microsoft likes to keep the exact number of Xbox Series X|S consoles sold close to its chest, based on reports from other companies, it's being outsold more than 2:1 by the PS5 (via Pure Xbox). At the end of 2025, it was estimated that the Xbox Series X|S had sold 30 million units, while the PS5 had sold over 65 million. While that gap might not be as bad as some would expect, it's important to note that the Series consoles have been selling slower than the Xbox One, which was already a rough generation for Xbox.

Why should you care about this? According to Chris Dring of The Game Business, some developers have been questioning why they bother developing games for the console altogether. He also pointed out that developers aren't actually stopping making games just yet and that third-party support for Xbox has been great, but if things don't improve for the console, that support might start to fade away.

You could just get a PC to play Xbox games

A gaming PC isn't a solution for every console gamer, but it could be for some.

Games like Avowed may not have landed on PS5 just yet, but every Xbox first-party game launches on PC the same day as Xbox. While gaming PCs are typically more expensive than consoles, they are also more flexible when it comes to how they can be used. A computer can do more than play games, even if it costs a bit more. You can build a gaming PC for the same cost as a PS5 Pro, and it can run games at 4K. All Xbox-made games come to both Steam and the Windows Gaming store, typically launching on PC Game Pass if you want a subscription instead. Not only will a gaming PC get you every Xbox game, but most PlayStation exclusives will eventually come to Steam. Plus, you have access to a massive pool of indie games on Steam that either won't come to consoles or won't for a significant amount of time.

Game Pass is a great way to game on a budget

The Xbox Series consoles remain the best place to use Game Pass

While there are plenty of reasons not to pick up an Xbox Series console, Game Pass remains a strong argument for having the console. Game Pass Ultimate costs $20 a month in the US, but the number of games and new releases makes it a great deal. The two best-reviewed games on Metacritic for 2025 so far, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Blue Price, both launched on Game Pass. Combine the third-party new releases with the older games continuously added to the service, on top of all Xbox first-party games, and you quickly have more games than you can probably play.

Xbox has even more Game Pass releases coming in 2025, including games like Hollow Knight: Silksong and Ninja Gaiden 4, making it a fantastic deal. The subscription will likely get a price increase at some point, similar to the many price increases services like Netflix and Hulu have seen. But at its current price, Game Pass is a strong argument for owning an Xbox console, especially as game prices hit $70 and $80 for a single game.

Game Pass isn't for everyone, though

How many games are you really playing each month?

Sure, Game Pass has hundreds of games on it, with new games being added every month, but how many new games are you really playing? At $20 a month, it doesn't take that many new releases in a single year to justify the cost of a Game Pass, but you still need to be playing multiple new releases each year. Depending on the length of those games, you may need to have dozens of hours to play each month to justify the cost.

If you prefer to wait for game sales instead of playing at launch or if you just don't play enough games being added to the service, it might be better to buy these games outright. While Xbox-published games like Indiana Jones and The Great Circle will stay on the service for at least several years, if not permanently, third-party games typically only stay on the service for a year. If you buy the game instead, you have it forever, making Game Pass not a perfect service for everyone.

There is no perfect reason to buy an Xbox

Not only are Xbox games available on most other platforms, but even its best argument for buying an Xbox, Game Pass, is available on PC and via cloud streaming. Picking up a PlayStation would give you access to all of Xbox's games and PlayStation exclusives, and buying a gaming PC would eventually give you access to everything. Combine that with an Xbox Series X now costing over $100 more than it did when it launched over four years ago; there really isn't a good reason to buy one now. If you truly want an Xbox, you may just want to wait for the next one at this point.