Twenty years on from Microsoft's Xbox launch in Europe, the video game landscape is unrecognisable

The arrival of Microsoft’s first Xbox on European shelves exactly two decades ago helped the Big Tech company to cement itself in the video game landscape

Back in the late ‘90s and early noughties, the video game wars were fought by Sony and Nintendo on the battleground of living rooms around the world – and the chance of competing with the two Japanese giants seemed impossible, even for Microsoft.

Bill Gates had spurred the quest for a console of Microsoft’s own in fearing the video game market’s rise would threaten Microsoft’s PC success, leading Xbox developer teams down a turbulent path of trying to merge the worlds of software and hardware with an Xbox that could run Windows.

But in the end, the Xbox that launched on markets managed to cut through because of its creativity, boldness and vision for the future of gaming – something that can often feel lost in today’s churn of consoles that barely make it to shelves.

The Xbox first arrived on European shelves 20 years ago, on March 14 2022. (Image credit: Pexels via Canva Pro)

In the 20 years since the console arrived on shelves in Europe on March 14, 2002, the video game industry has grown into a multi-billion dollar behemoth bursting at the seams with new titles, consoles and technologies.

Scotland’s own role in the burgeoning British video games industry has only grown with it – first from the small offices of DMA Design in Dundee with the emergence of Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto, to the more than 400 companies working in the industry across the country.

Consoles have become enriched with faster processing, better graphics and connectivity to help harness the power of video games to move, terrify, frustrate and connect us.

Narratives like those woven in The Last of Us, Unpacking, BioShock and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim have become more intricate, diverse and driven the demand for unique, original storytelling to complement sprawling open world or intense first-person shooter games.

But as the video game industry looks to consolidate itself around the wealth and opportunities supposedly set to be unleashed in blockchain and metaverse gaming, concerns gaming communities will be left behind in the race to recover from the pandemic’s impact are growing.

As today’s oligopoly continues to obsess over blockbuster titles, brand loyalty and acquiring indie studios, it’s hard not to yearn for the days when creativity, not competition, was king.