One Of Xbox’s Biggest Successes Of 2026 Didn’t Actually Release On Series X|S
According to September 2026 Circana sales data for the US market, two games associated with Microsoft appeared among the year’s best-selling titles through that month. Forza Horizon 6, a current-generation exclusive, secured the seventh position in projected best-selling games, while Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 also ranked among top performers.
The article highlights an intriguing contradiction: one of Xbox’s biggest commercial successes in 2026 never actually released on Xbox Series X|S hardware. This likely refers to Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, originally launched in 2012 for older platforms. Its strong 2026 performance suggests success through backwards compatibility, Game Pass availability, or other distribution methods rather than as a native current-generation release.
This situation illustrates Microsoft’s current gaming strategy, which prioritizes broad game accessibility across multiple platforms and services over exclusive new releases. The data highlights how traditional console sales metrics increasingly interact with service-based distribution models and backwards compatibility, reflecting evolving definitions of commercial success in the gaming industry.