Microsoft's XBOX said yesterday that a limited number of XBOX 25th Anniversary consoles and controllers will be available at launch on November 12 through the Microsoft Store and participating retailers, with sales opening at midnight Eastern, which is 10 PM MST tonight. The hardware marks 25 years since the original Xbox launched in North America on November 15, 2001. Check out the official post down below:
The XBOX 25th Anniversary Collection
The collection pairs the XBOX Series X25 Limited Edition console with the XBOX Wireless Controller X25 Special Edition. Both use a translucent OG Green design based on the original console, and the X25 console has 1 TB of storage and a green "X" that lights up as a nod to the original Xbox startup. The controller's bumpers honor the black and white buttons on the original "Duke" controller, and its back case and battery door are fully transparent.
Every X25 console is individually numbered with a unique engraving and comes with a full-game download of Halo: Campaign Evolved. Xbox Wire lists an MSRP of $899.99 for the collection, with pricing that varies by market. The controller is also sold separately. Here is the official look at the console and controller:
The original Xbox sold for $299 at launch, and Microsoft lost about $125 on every console. It was the first video game console with a built-in hard drive, and Microsoft sold 1.5 million units before the end of 2001 and 24 million by the time manufacturing ended in 2005, including 16 million in North America. Here is XBOX's reveal trailer for the 25th Anniversary Collection:
#15: Project Gotham Racing 2 (2003)
Bizarre Creations released Project Gotham Racing 2 exclusively on Xbox in 2003. Advancement depends on both speed and Kudos points earned for driving with style, across more than 100 cars and real-world cities including Hong Kong, Barcelona, Moscow, Edinburgh, Chicago, Sydney and Yokohama, plus the Nurburgring. Its Xbox Live multiplayer ran until April 15, 2010, and it earned a nomination for Console Racing Game of the Year from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. It is not on Xbox's backward compatibility list.
#14: MechAssault (2002)
Day 1 Studios and FASA Studio built MechAssault as a BattleTech game designed for consoles, and it was among the first games playable on Xbox Live. GameSpot named it its overall Game of the Year on Xbox for 2002, and it sold 750,000 units in the United States by July 2006. Its online modes ran until April 15, 2010. MechAssault is not on Xbox's backward compatibility list.
#13: Panzer Dragoon Orta (2002)
Smilebit's rail shooter is the 4th Panzer Dragoon game, released in Japan in 2002 and in North America and Europe in 2003. Finishing the campaign opens Pandora's Box, an extras menu with an encyclopedia, a bestiary, concept art and a full port of the original Panzer Dragoon. Orta became backward compatible on Xbox One on April 17, 2018.
#12: Psychonauts (2005)
Tim Schafer's Double Fine Productions made Psychonauts after Ed Fries backed it as a premiere title for the original Xbox. Majesco later picked up publishing after 4 and a half years of development. Players control Razputin "Raz" Aquato, a boy with psychic powers who sneaks into a summer camp for Psychonauts and explores the minds of the people he meets there. Double Fine reported sales of nearly 1.7 million by December 2015, and the game is on Xbox's backward compatibility list.
#11: Crimson Skies: High Road To Revenge (2003)
FASA Studio set Crimson Skies in an alternate 1930s where planes and zeppelins are the main way to travel, following air pirate Nathan Zachary and his Fortune Hunters. An overhaul that delayed it to October 2003 added Xbox Live support, with up to 16 players over System Link and Xbox Live. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences named it Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year, and it was among the first original Xbox games made backward compatible on Xbox One, announced at E3 2017.
#10: Burnout 3: Takedown (2004)
Criterion Games introduced Takedowns in Burnout 3, letting players slam rivals until they crash and fill their boost meter in the process. It won Racing Game of the Year at the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, and EA acquired Criterion and the Burnout series more than a year after development started. Burnout 3 is not on Xbox's backward compatibility list.
#9: Jet Set Radio Future (2002)
Sega's Smilebit put the GG's back on inline skates in a futuristic Tokyo, spraying graffiti over rival gangs' tags while dodging the police. The game began as a Dreamcast project and was later bundled with Xbox consoles alongside Sega GT 2002. GameSpot gave it Best Platformer, Best Music and Best Graphics (Artistic) among Xbox games, and it lost GameSpot's Xbox Game of the Year to MechAssault. It is not on the backward compatibility list, though the Xbox 360 version of the original Jet Set Radio is.
#8: Jade Empire (2005)
BioWare made Jade Empire as an Xbox exclusive after its success with Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic, which were all set in existing Dungeons and Dragons or Star Wars universes. The hero grows up in the village of Two Rivers, trained in martial arts by Master Li. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences named it Role-Playing Game of the Year at the 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, and it is backward compatible on current Xbox consoles.
#7: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002)
Bethesda Game Studios set Morrowind on Vvardenfell, an island in the Dark Elf province of Morrowind, where the Tribunal faces the demigod Dagoth Ur and his Sixth House cult. It won several Game of the Year awards and sold more than 4 million copies by 2005. The Xbox version is on the backward compatibility list.
#6: Fable (2004)
Big Blue Box Studios, a satellite developer of Lionhead Studios, released Fable on Xbox in September 2004. Players control a hero in Albion who joins the Heroes Guild after bandits kill his family, and good and evil deeds change his alignment. Danny Elfman wrote the opening title theme. Fable was the top-selling game of September 2004, became the Xbox's fastest-selling game up to that point and sold around 3 million copies. The original is not backward compatible, but its Xbox 360 remake, Fable Anniversary, is.
#5: Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005)
Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Milan sent Sam Fisher of the NSA's Third Echelon to a lighthouse on the coast of Peru to open Chaos Theory. The game sold 2.5 million units across all platforms within a month of its March 2005 release. Official Xbox Magazine named it its 2005 Xbox Game of the Year and gave it the highest score in the magazine's history at the time. It joined Xbox One backward compatibility in June 2019.
#4: Ninja Gaiden (2004)
Team Ninja and Tecmo rebooted Ninja Gaiden with Ryu Hayabusa hunting a stolen sword and the killers of his clan, in the same world as Dead or Alive. It sold more than 1.5 million copies, ranking among the 10 best-selling Xbox games. Team Ninja folded 2 downloadable content packs into Ninja Gaiden Black in 2005, and Ninja Gaiden Black is backward compatible today.
#3: Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic (2003)
BioWare and LucasArts released KOTOR on Xbox on July 16, 2003. The story takes place almost 4,000 years before the Galactic Empire, with Darth Malak's Sith armada at war with the Republic. The first shipment sold out in 4 days, about 250,000 copies, making it the fastest-selling Xbox game at the time. It won Game of the Year at the 2004 Game Developers Choice Awards and is on Xbox's backward compatibility list.
#2: Halo 2 (2004)
Bungie's sequel added dual wielding and online play over Xbox Live. Halo 2 made more than $125 million on its first day and became the best-selling Xbox game, with more than 8 million copies sold. It was the most popular game on Xbox Live until Gears of War arrived on Xbox 360 nearly 2 years later. The original disc is not backward compatible, but Halo 2 is part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
#1: Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
Microsoft acquired Bungie in 2000 to make Halo an Xbox launch title, and it released alongside the console on November 15, 2001. Players control Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier in the 26th century. Halo helped drive the 1.5 million Xbox sales in 2001 and sold more than 6 million copies by November 2005. Its multiplayer supports 2 to 16 players, with up to 4 on split-screen and System Link connecting up to 4 consoles. The Halo story order places its campaign in 2552.
Halo Studios released Halo: Campaign Evolved on July 28, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X|S. Built in Unreal Engine 5, the remake adds new and altered levels, remade cinematics with re-recorded dialogue from the principal cast, 4-player online co-op and 2-player split-screen, but leaves out the original competitive multiplayer. Halo also gave Foehammer, the Pelican pilot from the original campaign, a new prose story in Halo Gives Foehammer Her Final Flight In A New Halo: Combat Evolved Story By Kemi Ashing-Giwa. Here is the official cinematic story trailer for the remake:
Xbox Live And The Original Xbox
Microsoft launched Xbox Live on November 15, 2002, the console's first anniversary, with MechAssault among its flagship games. The service let subscribers play online and download content straight to the Xbox hard drive, and it reached 1 million online users in July 2004. Xbox Live for the original Xbox shut down on April 15, 2010, ending online play and downloadable content for original Xbox games.
Xbox added original Xbox games to Xbox One backward compatibility on October 24, 2017, and Xbox's current list covers 61 titles, including KOTOR, Jade Empire, Ninja Gaiden Black, Chaos Theory, Morrowind, Crimson Skies, Psychonauts, Panzer Dragoon Orta and Conker: Live and Reloaded. Here is the green X25 console up close:
Which original Xbox game would you put at #1, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2 or Knights of the Old Republic?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.