Xbox is a series of gaming consoles, created by Microsoft since November 15th, 2001. Every major revision of the Xbox has its own unique hardware and operating system.
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001-11-15 |
| Legal Structure | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video game |
| Also known as | |
| Official website | https://www.xbox.com |
Consumer-impact summary
- User Freedom: Online features require paying for an Xbox Network membership
- User Privacy: Collects user data, including [insert examples here], to sell to advertisers.[1]
- Business Model: Game sales via the Microsoft Store, Xbox Network (formerly Xbox Live)/Game Pass memberships, selling user data to advertisers.[1]
- Market Control: Primarily competing against Sony's PlayStation, additionally competing against Nintendo's Switch and Valve's Steam Deck
Incidents
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Xbox category.
Mandatory part pairing
- Main article: Microsoft Xbox Series mandatory part pairingXbox Series Models have part pairing
Advertisements
- Main article: Advertising overload
Dashboard ads
Since the Xbox 360's 3rd major dashboard redesign, the dashboards featured advertisements for various products to the user,[2][3][4] regardless of if they were paying for a subscription on the console. The Xbox 360 dashboard received an update on June 2025, which added advertisements for the Xbox Series models.[5]
-
The Xbox One dashboard since 2022 -
Various versions of the 360 dashboard; the final version features advertisements
Advertising in subsidiary products
[Stub section - to be written later!]
Deprecating hardware
There are various peripherals that have been released under the Xbox brand, which were deprecated and left unable to be used or retrofitted by the end user to prolong its usage.
Xbox One Kinect
- Main article: Xbox One Kinect
When the Xbox One line initially released on November 22, 2013, it came with a Kinect model that is only compatible with the Xbox One due to using an archaic custom cable standard. The device was additionally mandatory on older OS versions for the console.[6][7] Due to a lack of support from 3rd-party developers, coupled with a lack of viable homebrew development for the hardware, Microsoft deprecated the Xbox One Kinect in 2016.[8] The company would provide users with an adapter for the Kinect for roughly 2 years after the device stopped production, which would allow the end user to connect the Kinect to their Xbox One S[9] and X[10] models, however, later models such as the Series X/S would be unable to interface with the Kinect regardless of the USB-A adapter.[11]
Xbox TV Tuner
Initially when the Xbox One released, it was designed to support standard TV features, and for an additional charge, users could purchase a TV tuner peripheral to access free cable channels. In 2021, with the removal of OneGuide TV, this peripheral became incompatible with all Xbox One and Series consoles.[12]
Products
Home consoles
- Xbox
- Xbox 360
- 360 Elite
- 360 S
- 360 E ("Winchester")
- Xbox One
- One S
- One X
- Xbox Series
- Series X
- Series S
Portable gaming consoles
- ROG Xbox Ally
- Ally X
Peripherals
- Kinect
- Xbox Wireless Controller
See also
Companies
Consoles
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Microsoft Privacy Statement". Microsoft. October 2025. Retrieved Nov 7, 2025.
- ↑ Gach, Ethan (26 Jul 2023). "New Xbox Dashboard Looks Great, Still Has Too Many Ads". Kotaku. Retrieved 15 Mar 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Micheals, Steve (22 Jan 2024). "Xbox Gamers Not Happy About Full-Screen Ads". GameRant. Retrieved 15 Mar 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Xbox One Dashboard Ads". inspiredpencil. Retrieved Nov 7, 2025.
- ↑ Xbox, Pure (Jun 25, 2025). "Xbox 360 Dashboard Gets Significant Update For First Time In Ages". Pure Xbox. Retrieved Nov 8, 2025.
- ↑ Schreier, Jason (Aug 12, 2013). "Kinect No Longer Mandatory For Xbox One (But Will Still Come With It) [UPDATE]". Kotaku. Univision Communications. Archived from the original on Sep 6, 2013. Retrieved Nov 8, 2025.
- ↑ Anthony, Sebastian (Aug 13, 2013). "Xbox One no longer requires Kinect, but it'll still come in the box, and you'll still pay $500". ExtremeTech. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on Sep 10, 2013. Retrieved Nov 8, 2025.
- ↑ Hester, Blake (Jan 14, 2020). "All the money in the world couldn't make Kinect happen". Polygon. Archived from the original on Jan 15, 2020. Retrieved Nov 8, 2025.
- ↑ Sarkar, Samit (Jun 13, 2016). "Xbox One S console has no Kinect port, requires USB adapter". Polygon. Archived from the original on Jan 15, 2020. Retrieved Nov 8, 2025.
- ↑ Gartenberg, Chaim (Jan 2, 2018). "Microsoft has discontinued the Kinect Adapter for newer Xbox One consoles". The Verge. Archived from the original on Nov 14, 2019. Retrieved Nov 8, 2025.
- ↑ "Connect a Kinect sensor to an Xbox One S or Xbox One X console". Xbox Support. Retrieved Aug 8, 2025.
- ↑ White, Lewis (Mar 11, 2021). "Xbox abandons TV for good with OneGuide death". Stealth Optional. Retrieved Nov 8, 2025.