5 Things I Miss After Switching From Xbox To PlayStation

In truth, since my Xbox 360 days, Xbox has held a special place in my heart. It’s the console that led me to find my best gaming friends through all of my not-so-worldly expeditions on Xbox Live. Plus, I’m grateful Xbox Game Pass kept me connected to them when I couldn’t afford new games.

While my console heart now lies elsewhere, I still think about some of my favorite Xbox-only features that I wish I could carry to my PlayStation 5 (now my primary console). One is the value of Xbox Game Pass, and the other is the controller. Then, of course, given my anxiety about Sony’s disc-less future, I’ve become much more appreciative of how consistent Xbox’s backward compatibility program has been. Even though I chose the PlayStation 5 over the Xbox Series X and S, I definitely made some noticeable compromises as a gamer, thus I’d like to highlight some of my top regrets after I made the switch.

Xbox Game Pass for native, offline play

I miss being able to access Xbox Game Pass easily without relying on cloud gaming. With a less-than-stellar internet connection, I don’t want to stream Xbox Game Pass to my other devices — I have tried, and the input delay with cloud streaming breaks my immersion. The Xbox console is a simple solution for downloading and playing those titles natively. The alternative is PlayStation Plus but the catalog is much less desirable, and you don’t normally get many new AAA titles on day one — especially not ones by Sony. To me, the service feels like a downgrade.

Both services can be expensive at the premium level: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is around $23 a month, roughly $276 a year. PlayStation Plus Premium is $160 a year, or about $13.33 a month, cheaper, but with a smaller catalog. The difference is that I have been able to get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate much cheaper through advertised promos, and I have never been able to get a similar deal for PlayStation. Another cool aspect is that you can get some reimbursements when you cancel Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (note that I am Canadian, so I’m eligible for a prorated refund policy).

The comfort and familiarity of the Xbox controller

The PlayStation 5 DualSense controller is definitely a nice piece of hardware. It has neat features you won’t get on the Xbox controller, like the light bar around the touchpad. The light bar is flashy and can change colors in different games; it can show your health bar or color-code based on the active character you play. The controller is also quite comfortable to hold and has good grip, but even with all the perks and comfort, I still prefer the Xbox controller. Plus, the Xbox controller layout feels more universal for me since I play on multiple platforms. I spent a lot of time with my Steam Deck, where the A, B, Y, and X buttons match the Xbox controller. I recently got to experience how frustrating it can be to switch between the controllers, especially because the “X” button appears on both controllers but they are placed in different positions. As a result, I often made mistakes while I played. Muscle memory is part of the transition, and it has remained a hurdle since the switch.

Another issue I have with the controller is regarding the joysticks/analog sticks. I grew up playing RPGs on the PlayStation 1 and 2, but I started dipping into Xbox later. As soon as I started playing more first-person shooters and fighting games, the joystick placement on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One controller made sense to me (it is asymmetrical), whereas I struggled with it on my PlayStation 4 due to its symmetrical design. At the time, I also replaced my PlayStation 4 controllers annually because of stick-drift issues, likely from my more aggressive handling of analog sticks in faster-paced movement games.

Missing out on Xbox profile perks

Going from a cumulative Gamerscore (from Achievements) to trophies hasn’t been as satisfying. Seeing my Gamerscore grow since my Xbox 360 days brings a sense of nostalgia. It also shows how much I have grown as a gamer. Trophies feel like they’re more for vanity, like how dedicated you’ve been to specific games (earning a “Platinum” trophy means you are a completionist). You still collect trophies as a whole on your PlayStation profile, but they’re organized into tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum. They are worth points, and you can accumulate them, but Gamerscore has been more prominent and relevant for my gaming communities, especially when I signed up for amateur esports tournaments.

With that, Xbox has brought neat milestone badges you can equip on your profile. You can get up to 88 different ones (as of the time of writing), and they can relate to special events, roles you’ve had, and account tenure. Personally, I found that it makes your Xbox Live profile feel more personal than what you’d get on the PlayStation platform.

Being able to play my old-generation titles on new hardware

The Xbox 360 was one of my favorite consoles, and it also happens to be Xbox’s best-selling console of all time. A large part of that was its diverse library; one of my favorite Xbox 360 titles is “Lost Odyssey.” Unless you emulate it, you can’t play it anywhere else but on an Xbox. The Xbox One and Xbox Series X let you insert the disc, which then prompts you to download the game onto your hard drive.

It’s been nice that I only need one Xbox to play my old titles — and as someone with very limited space in the living room, that’s been extremely helpful. Because I was so spoiled for choice back then, I was quite disappointed that the PlayStation 4 couldn’t play my PlayStation 3 library, and my PlayStation 3 couldn’t do the same for PlayStation 2 games (I was unlucky and didn’t get one of the backward-compatible launch models). At the very least, the PlayStation 5 can play my PlayStation 4 games, but it’s also the first time in a while Sony has welcomed backward compatibility with the last generation. As such, I haven’t had to worry about that with Xbox, since they built a decent library of backward-compatible games, and I just needed my disc to bring them back to my console’s library — and the problem is only likely to get worse with the PlayStation 6, whenever Sony decides to release it.

Being able to jump between PC and Xbox gaming

One of my biggest hurdles as a multiplatform gamer is crossplay. Once I could afford it, I transitioned to PC gaming. Even with a fully loaded desktop, I still spend a lot of time on my console, mainly because I need to change my physical environment (my job keeps me at my desk all day). As a result, I prefer the flexibility of crossplay or multiplatform support.

For example, when Palworld was in early access, many people I knew were playing it. Sadly, most were on PC. It turns out that you could crossplay it on Xbox and PC, but only through Game Pass (or through Microsoft Store). So back then, it almost became a no-brainer to pick it up on Xbox (if only I still had one). However, that also meant choosing PlayStation over the other options would’ve made me feel alienated. Thankfully, I waited, and the developers eventually added full crossplay across all platforms after v0.5.0 in March 2025. Still, not all multiplayer titles are guaranteed to have this feature.

Another perk I miss from Xbox is that some games — ones you can play through the Xbox app or that have the “Xbox Play Anywhere” label — let you carry progress over to PC. You also only pay once to own the game on PC and Xbox. Sadly, PlayStation doesn’t have anything like this. Many titles I bought had no way to transfer data to another console or handheld outside the PlayStation ecosystem. That makes sense because Sony is a bit of a walled garden, except for live-service games where the devs/publishers host their own servers and make you sign up for independent accounts you link to your PSN. But for single-player games, the chances are quite low.