2021 was a year of ups and downs – also for the console giants Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. In a direct platform comparison, the Xbox Series X was ahead of the game – also because the PS5 and Switch allowed themselves to slip.
2021 is unlikely to go down as one of the best years in console gaming history. It’s been a strange twelve months in which it often felt like this as if too much and nothing at all happened at the same time would. After the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X | S in November 2020, top games were very few and far between this year, many games have been postponed and the next-gen consoles are still difficult or impossible to get.
So 2021 has essentially defined itself through its gaming potential, which has often remained so promising and yet so frustratingly unfulfilled. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo tried quite a bit under these difficult circumstances, but they did Not all of it worked by a long way. In my opinion, the comparison of the three platforms apart from the sales statistics was surprisingly clear to me in the end – and thanks to a well-implemented strategy, it can now feel as the console winner in 2021.
2021: Xbox excels in a year of slack
For the most part, Xbox has consistently bridged the gap in 2021 by releasing updates for the Xbox Series X | S (including Dolby Vision Gaming), focusing more sharply on its own gaming concept and doing so as a gaming platform for the mainstream to position.
This could be achieved, among other things, through the expansion of backward compatibility and the development of Xbox Cloud Gaming. While many new games in 2021 often only shine because of their absence or programming errors Xbox added over 70 classics to its already extensive library of older games, which can now be played on the latest consoles – and thanks to FPS Boost and Auto HDR, they look better there than ever before.
Thus, at no point has there been a shortage of high-quality games that can also be streamed via mobile devices and laptops without downloading through cloud gaming. An indispensable component of this concept is of course Microsoft’s ace up its sleeve, which dominated 2021 like no other gaming feature: The Xbox Game Pass.
Xbox Game Pass is and will remain the trump card
2021 was one year as painted for the Xbox Game Pass: Stunning exclusive games on other platforms were in short supply and the selection of older games was loosened up several times by newer day-one releases such as Outriders, Back 4 Blood and Psychonauts 2 – so the number of subscribers rose steadily.
Towards the end of the year, the next-gen kick-off was finally fired, so to speak: with Forza Horizon 5 and Halo: Infinite two brand new and graphically sophisticated games were released exclusively for Xbox – these blockbusters were also included in the Game Pass for free from day 1.
So during 2021 for Xbox not always glamorous, but without any great excitement and with some notable highlights went, there were some weaknesses to consider in the comparison of the competitors PlayStation and Nintendo. Both consoles delivered some exclusive games earlier in the year, but the really big names were postponed to 2022, leaving gaps that could not be filled without a Game Pass alternative.
In our photo gallery we show you 9 features of the PS5 and Xbox Series X that you should definitely know:
Year in review: Sony & Nintendo with slips
PlayStation showed that especially in the unfortunate handling of the PS3 and PSP stores Backward compatibility is of no importance to the company – which is a clear disadvantage for gamers. Sony also got tangled up in the opaque field of PS4-to-PS5 upgrades and had to backtrack publicly in this regard in the upcoming sequel Horizon: Forbidden West.
Overall, of course, PlayStation has by no means had a disastrous year – the PS5 has sold significantly better than the Xbox Series X | S worldwide – Nevertheless, Sony did not deliver a sovereign picture, clearly weakened in terms of player friendliness and appeared comparatively haphazard in phases. Whether exclusive games like Returnal and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart could make up for this is a matter of taste – for me it wasn’t enough.
Of the three platforms, Nintendo probably had the most difficult year: The expectations for the legendary Switch Pro and N64 ports for Nintendo Switch Online were huge, however, were disappointed in both cases. While the new Switch has a chic OLED display, it can’t really show any improvements.
Still, the new console version was received significantly better than the N64 package for Nintendo Switch Online: The Expansion with a handful of mediocre ports was optimistically given a premium price tag and quite rightly torn in the air.
Outlook for 2022: PS5 and Nintendo Switch with big names
For me, Xbox won the console comparison 2021 thanks to a stringent and gamer-friendly strategy. However, the platform cannot rest on its laurels, because 2022 promises to be a much faster year – with well-known exclusive games on all consoles. Horizon: Forbidden West, God of War: Ragnarök and Breath of the Wild 2 will undoubtedly be groundbreaking games for the PS5 and Nintendo Switch.
Xbox will counter this with games like Starfield, Stalker 2, and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. In addition, of course, various long-awaited, cross-platform game highlights such as Elden Ring, Gotham Knights and Hogwarts Legacy the stage. So hopefully next year the winners will be the players.
All winners of the Game Awards 2021 are shown here in the video:
2021 was a challenging year for console giants Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft. In the end, however, Xbox had the best strategy to bridge the twelve months and can now rightly feel like the winner of the year.