My Xbox Series X has been gathering dust, unused beneath my TV – and I don’t see that changing anytime soon

I was so happy when I finally managed to bag an Xbox Series X console in an Amazon Prime deal the other year. I had to check how long ago it actually was, because poor ol' Xbox has sat beneath my TV gathering dust, unused.

I picked it up at the bargain price of £349.99 according to my Amazon sales history, which in relation to today's price-risen £499.99 sort of makes me happy. But there's no way I got my money's worth out of the console.

The sole reason I bought it was down to Starfield. It's the 'Bethesda bug', if you like: the same studio made Fallout 3, which to this day remains one of my all-time favourites. So I really wanted to dig into the studio's latest and get lost in all manner of worlds.

The console hierarchy

Except, I got kinda bored, and instead then lost myself in the myriad best streaming services on my PlayStation 5. And now, with the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, that's taken over in my console hierarchy now. It's a literal hierarchy beneath my TV, too, as there's very limited space.

So I've done a bit of maths and have the terrible, daunting feeling that I've not switched my Xbox Series X on for over a year. By quite a margin. It's certainly not plugged into my TV as there's only four HDMI ports – a problem that TV-makers really need to fix in the future.

Much as I could dig through all the cables around the back of my TV and pop that HDMI back in and give Starfield another go, I'm now just too busy with revisiting Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Switch 2 – and that's really, finally got its hooks into me now.

The waiting game...

Not that I'm totally giving up on Mr Xbox just yet, oh no! I'm in it for the long game, you see, and with future Bethesda games making console exclusives (i.e. outside of PC) on Microsoft's platform, I've got faith in the next Elder Scrolls, as one example.

Although, it's kind of mad to think that was revealed 7 years ago – yes, seven! – at a Bethesda conference at the E3 show in Los Angeles (which I was there in person to witness).

The Elder Scrolls VI – Official Announcement Teaser - YouTube

Watch On

There's more to come, too, with the next-gen Fable title still rumoured for a 2025 release. However, the game's publisher, Playground Games, hasn't shown a peep of the game – and that's 5 years after its announcement. I suspect they're cooking up something special though.

That said, there are limits to how much open-world gaming I can dedicate time to these days. And with Grand Theft Auto 6 a given in 2026 – which I'll probably line-up for a PlayStation 5 Pro upgrade – that's almost certain to get my preference.

So I don't foresee anything that's going to suddenly change my hand and get my Xbox Series X console plugged back into my TV. I don't regret buying it, as such, and I'm console agnostic as I'm fortunate enough to have the lot.

But, I don't know, I feel like Microsoft is somewhat on the back foot compared the the competition right now. Here's hoping I'm proved wrong in the very immediate future...