Xbox One

Lore & Background

The Xbox One was publicly unveiled at a press conference on May 21, 2013, presented as an all-in-one home entertainment device. The event focused heavily on multimedia capabilities, demonstrating integration with television for over 30 minutes before any video games were shown. As a result of negative feedback from that presentation, the press event for E3 2013 focused on the video game functionality of the Xbox One first and foremost.

In Their Own Story

The living room is dim, lit only by the soft blue ring pulsing on the console's face. Someone's thumb finds the Xbox button in the dark. The ring brightens, the fan hums to life—a low, patient vibration against the carpet. On the screen, the dashboard tiles slide into place: a row of game covers, a TV guide, a music player, all waiting in quiet order. The Kinect's small green eye blinks in the corner, listening for a voice that never comes. The thumb presses Game. A title loads, the world opens, and for the next few hours the room belongs to someone else entirely. The console just hums, patient and black, a small altar in the corner where the blue light never quite goes out.

Reader's Guide

The console features an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) from AMD built around the x86-64 instruction set. Its controller was redesigned over the Xbox 360's, with a redesigned body, D-pad, and triggers capable of delivering directional haptic feedback. The console places an increased emphasis on cloud computing, social networking features, and the ability to record and share video clips or screenshots from gameplay or livestream directly to streaming services such as Mixer and Twitch. Games can also be played off-console via a local area network on supported Windows 10 devices. The console can play Blu-ray Disc, and overlay live television programming from an existing set-top box or a digital tuner for digital terrestrial television with an enhanced program guide. The console optionally included a redesigned Kinect sensor, marketed as the 'Kinect 2.0', providing improved motion tracking and voice recognition.

Did You Know?

• The Xbox One is the first Xbox game console to be released in China, specifically in the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone.
• A revised version called the Xbox One S was released in 2016, featuring a smaller form factor and support for HDR10 high-dynamic-range video, as well as support for 4K video playback and upscaling of games from 1080p to
• A high-end model named Xbox One X was unveiled in June 2017 and released in November; it features upgraded hardware specifications and support for rendering games at 4K resolution.
• Production of all Xbox One consoles ceased at the end of 2020.