Xbox turned 25 this month, and Microsoft marked the milestone with a transparent-green anniversary console, a global FanFest tour and a wave of free community-designed digital extras, according to the company’s own announcement on Xbox Wire. The console giant’s original hardware launched in November 2001.

The centerpiece is the Xbox Series X25, a limited-edition console with a see-through green shell that launches November 13, 2026, for $899.99, bundled with “Halo: Campaign Evolved,” according to Pure Xbox’s reporting.

Key Points

• Xbox Series X25 anniversary console launches November 13, 2026, for $899.99, in a transparent green design bundled with “Halo: Campaign Evolved”
• A matching X25 special edition controller releases October 20, 2026, for $79.99
• General pre-orders opened August 27 at 7 a.m. PDT after an August 26 early-access window for select longtime fans
• A global FanFest tour launched August 26 at Gamescom in Cologne, with stops planned for Tokyo, London, Mexico City, Sydney, Toronto and Seattle
• Free 25th-anniversary profile badges are available to anyone signing into an Xbox account through the end of 2026
• A curated Game Pass anniversary collection highlights legacy titles including Fable Anniversary, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Fallout 4 and Psychonauts 2

Microsoft framed much of the celebration around fan participation rather than just new hardware. New gamerpics, wallpapers and a dynamic console theme were co-created with community members using the handles Klobrille and Ben Kenobi, part of an effort the company described in its announcement as “by the community, for the community,” encouraging fans to share their own designs using the hashtag #Xbox25.

The X25 controller became the more immediate flashpoint. According to Xbox Wire, Microsoft limited pre-orders to one anniversary collection per customer specifically to curb scalping, but the controller reportedly sold out within minutes in some regions anyway, with resale listings appearing at inflated prices almost immediately after the general on-sale began.

The FanFest tour gives the anniversary a physical, global footprint beyond the hardware drop itself, distributing tickets through city-specific sweepstakes rather than open sales, following stops at Gamescom and September’s Tokyo Game Show before the tour continues to additional cities later in the year.

Twenty-five years removed from a console that launched into a market Sony and Nintendo already dominated, Xbox’s anniversary rollout leans as heavily on nostalgia and community goodwill as it does on new hardware sales, betting that a see-through green box and a handful of community-made wallpapers can do as much for brand loyalty as another spec bump would. It’s a notably sentimental turn for a brand that built its early identity on raw horsepower rather than throwback design, and it suggests Microsoft sees as much long-term value in fan affection as it does in console sales this generation.