Reaction: Xbox's Next-Gen News Is Exciting, But It Also Leaves More Questions Than Answers

We're still recovering after Xbox decided to randomly reveal its next-gen strategy out of nowhere on Tuesday evening, and there's obviously been a lot of discussion ever since about exactly what was said in the minute-long YouTube video.

A lot of people are jumping to the conclusion that the next Xbox console will basically be a PC, for example, which does seem very possible - but we're also wary of jumping to conclusions based on how vague Xbox is being about this.

Let's go through Sarah Bond's entire quote from Tuesday's video, shall we?

"At Xbox, our vision is for you to play the games you want, with the people you want, anywhere you want. That's why we're investing in our next-generation hardware lineup across console, handheld, PC, cloud and accessories. I am thrilled to share we've established a strategic multi-year partnership with AMD to co-engineer silicon across a portfolio of devices including our next-generation Xbox consoles, in your living room and in your hands."

OK, so this is all pretty self-explanatory for the most part. Xbox and AMD working together is nothing new, and they're confirming to us that console, handheld, PC and cloud will be the key focus heading into the next generation of Xbox.

As we've mentioned though, we're a little confused by the reference of "next-generation Xbox consoles in your living room and in your hands". Sarah could be talking about anything here - the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally, plans for a first-party handheld in the future, some kind of Nintendo Switch-like hybrid device... it all remains to be seen.

The next bit is about how AMD will help establish a next-generation experience for Xbox:

"Together with AMD we're advancing the state of art in gaming silicon to deliver the next generation of graphics innovation to unlock a deeper level of visual quality and immersive gameplay and player experiences enhanced with the power of AI, all while maintaining compatibility with your existing library of Xbox games."

There's not a whole lot to take away from this right now in terms of the "next generation of graphics innovation" - it's great to get a tease of what's ahead, but ultimately it's all just marketing spiel that doesn't mean much yet.

That's understandable considering it's early days for the "next generation" of Xbox, but it is great to hear that backwards compatibility will be a big focus for the team going forward, giving us peace of mind that our purchases will carry over.

After this part in the video though, things get very vague and could be interpreted in multiple ways:

"This is all about building you a gaming platform that's always with you, so you can play the games you want across devices anywhere you want, delivering you an Xbox experience not locked to a single store or tied to one device. That's why we're working closely with the Windows team to ensure that Windows is the number one platform for gaming."

On paper, the idea of an "Xbox experience" not being "locked to a single store" indicates the next Xbox console will be able to support more than the just the Xbox Store, potentially expanding to the likes of Steam and the Epic Games Store.

But if that's the case, why isn't Sarah outright confirming that the next Xbox console will support this? Remember, the word "Xbox" is considered to span console, PC, cloud and other devices these days, so when they say "not locked to a single store", they might mean the ability to access Steam games on your ROG Xbox Ally handheld, for example.

We already know Xbox likes to be quite vague at times as well. If you watch the ROG Xbox Ally trailer, there's a big mention of how you can "download" games "natively", but it doesn't mention that native console games aren't supported - only the PC versions. Again, everything comes under the "Xbox" banner nowadays so nothing is technically wrong about that statement, but it undoubtedly leads to a lot of confusion in the process.

Nevertheless, there are rumours that Xbox has at least had discussions about putting Steam on its next console, so there's every possibility it could happen. Let's hope it does - but we're remaining as cautious as possible for now.

Ultimately, there's only so much you can get out of a one-minute video about the next generation of Xbox, and we're going to need a lot more information before we can come to any definitive conclusions.

That's probably it for the moment as well — the rest of the focus this year will likely be on the ROG Xbox Ally handheld — but we at least know that the next generation is coming, and it's definitely going to include console as part of the lineup.

We're at the very, very beginning of a new Xbox era, folks - it's going to be a fascinating ride whatever happens!

What's your main takeaway from Sarah Bond's Xbox announcement video? Tell us below.