Xbox begins its 20th anniversary celebrations

Microsoft has kicked off their 20th-anniversary celebrations six months early and they’ll last all the way up to the anniversary of the release of the first console on November 15th. 

Kicking off the proceedings today in the Xbox Wire news post, there’s a lot of heartwarming nostalgic sentiment about how far we’ve come from hooking up an original Xbox to a bulky CRT TV. 

It isn’t all about being mushy and sentimental for six months though, as there’s plenty of branded goodies you can get your hands on to celebrate the event. 

The Xbox Gear Shop has already received the first wave of Xbox 20th Anniversary official gear, and there are even free anniversary-themed wallpapers celebrating both Halo and Xbox for you to enjoy. 

As of today, you can also register in Xbox FanFest, to participate in plenty of activities surrounding this celebration with “exclusive sweepstakes, FanFest gear, and digital experiences,” all on offer.

As you might expect, there’s plenty to personalise your Xbox experience with already. This includes a new 20-year gamerpic, and a profile theme called “The Original” which has a dynamic version for Xbox Series X|S users.

How do you celebrate 20 years of Xbox in November?

You get started in May. #Xbox20: https://t.co/tPelvQdBey pic.twitter.com/174yUzb4nG

— Xbox (@Xbox) May 13, 2021

There’s also a stream that will be running today on Xbox’s Twitch channel at 11 am PT / 2 pm ET, where they’ll be reminiscing about two decades of gaming while playing the game that started it all Halo: Combat Evolved.