After an impactful reveal at E3 during Xbox‘s conference, discussions surrounding the Xbox One X skyrocketed as Xbox fanatics made financial plans to invest in the future of console gaming. Leading up to the release, the excitement surrounding the new Microsoft console hasn’t yet come to a halt, but it’s certainly slowed down quite a bit.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Part of this is undoubtedly due to the gap between the reveal and the actual release date. There are several months between the June reveal and the November release date, and while news of Xbox One X-compatible games and other announcements have come with some frequency, that’s still quite a bit of time to allow players to become more comfortable with their current Xbox One.
Even some analysts seem to think that the hype isn’t quite what it could be at this point, but fortunately for the console, there are a few ways that the Xbox One X fire can be kept alive before it’s released.
Professionals Say The “Hype Machine” Isn’t There
Looking at the Xbox One X since its reveal, one analyst claims that the excitement surrounding the console has slowed down simply because the “hype machine” isn’t there at the moment. In an interview with We Write Things, Strategy Analytics’ industry analyst Michael Goodman commented that the hype needs to be picked up before the holiday season in order to guarantee high sales.
“For Microsoft, you’re launching an expensive new console and it has all these new bells and whistles with processing power and memory,” Goodman said. “You want to show it off. Maybe Anthem will show it off, but right now the hype machine is not really there. We’re a week away from August and five weeks from September where we really start to think about the holiday selling season.”
Goodman continued, saying that shoppers typically begin their holiday spending around October to beat the rush. The release date of the console is the most important date that gamers will look forward to, but all the dates before Nov. 7 will consist of preorders and financial planning, things that won’t happen if the console doesn’t pick up some steam again.
A Lack Of Preorders Is Hurting The Xbox One X
With impressive performance including 4K quality, promised continued support, and a deceivingly small size that packs quite a punch, there are plenty of reasons to be excited for the Xbox One X. But amid these exciting features, there are several factors that are inhibiting the Xbox One X hype.
The first of these is the current complete absence of preorder opportunities, something that’ll hopefully be changed soon but is still diminishing interest regardless. As reported in the past, there are certain certifications and other requirements that must first be met in order for a new console to be preordered or sold at all, so while the inability to preorder the console isn’t solely on Microsoft, it’s still hurting the hype.
Putting all this console’s power to work, several games have already been announced as games that’ll get the Xbox One X enhancement. But as more games are announced, some others seem to be having issues with the console. Killing Floor 2 is one game that was recently said to have experienced issues with running the game at it’s highest potential, saying the framerate will be higher than the Xbox One but not as high as it could be.
How The Hype Can Get Moving Again
As Goodman mentioned in his statement about the Xbox One X, the “hype machine” needs to be present in order for Microsoft to fully take advantage of the console through early sales. In order to feed the Xbox One X flame, there are several steps that would likely bolster excitement and bring about more sales before the release.
The main one stated previously is a simple one: Let players preorder the console soon. Xbox boss Phil Spencer tweeted back on July 23 that the chance to preorder the console would be coming “soon,” but that timeframe is pretty vague when there are months before the console’s release. Allowing players to preorder the console sooner rather than later, hopefully with some bundle options that’ll put together the console with some enhanced games, will drive sales through the holidays, as Goodman suggested.
And while the current list of Xbox One X games that’ll receive enhancements including games like Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus and Anthem along with other games is nothing to scoff at, more games are needed in order to appeal to a wide variety of players. Since the console won’t have any exclusives that can’t be played on the base Xbox One, players are going to need more incentives in order to shell out $500 for a new console, even if that price is quite fair for the power offered.
