Xbox Announces Next-Gen Console Strategy, Promises 'Deeper Visuals' & Backwards Compatibility

This sounds like good news! I will not be in any hurry to upgrade but it sounds like we'll continue to have consoles like we always did.

So likely Windows based with some form of compatibility layer for Xbox One/Series games (most of them) which aren't play anywhere

I look forward to anything new hardware, always an interesting time.

With Xbox i will be looking to see if this is a true console or if we are now into this Windows PC/console hybrid situation and if it is the second of those then I look forward to finding out the price!

Also remembering that previously she stated something along the lines of the next gen being the biggest generational leap ever is very intriguing and super hard for them to live up to!

Why did both Sony & Microsoft announce this week that their next systems are well on their way? Looks like we're getting the next Xbox & PS6 in two years.

Even with this news the detractors will still fan the fire of Xbox dead and series x/s being the final console or whatever. I’m here for the good news!

A xbox but with Windows so it will be easier to port games to PC and vice versa, so the next console will be a pc dedicated to Microsoft games.

Let's be honest, Xbox was always making another console. Only fear-mongers thought otherwise.

The more times they come out and say they’ll still be doing first-party hardware I honestly believe it less and less.

However, giving them the benefit of doubt, if they actually pull it off having a PC/console hybrid with Steam, Game Pass and all of my legacy Xbox library I’d definitely look into buying it day one, that is if Microsoft cares enough to distribute it globally and not only the US as the Series X|S is right now.

It would be a dream machine for me if it plays Steam games, Xbox games (including BC) and GamePass keeps trucking the way it is now. Anxious to hear more!

This is amazing. Backwards compatibility confirmed! Steam confirmed! Am I dreaming?

I was so down on Xbox throughout last year but credit to Sarah and Phil, they’ve successfully righted the ship, even if there were quite a few questionable PR bumps along the way.

Wow future of Xbox is bright! Sony published games on Xbox hardware, what a world we’re soon gonna be living in!

based on some rumours, this is going to be done via hardware and not some cool software layer for Windows which would at least "forever proof" our libraries but this is a good sign.

Hey but why? Why would anyone buy a new console? There are still third party games releasing on Xbox One and PS4

@Juanalf This has been the weirdest console generation. Honestly hasn’t even felt like a console generation by any means. Felt like a “Pro version” generation since most of the next gen patches and game were delayed for 2-3 years thanks to covid, then it’s just been a slow trickle of stuff. And while the graphics have been nice, fps stability and faster loading have taken the forefront this gen (thankfully so!). So it truly hasn’t felt like a generational leap forward like previous generations have.

It reminds me of the times when I would upgrade my graphics card on my pc. Same games, just more stable and a bit prettier.

Such a weird generation….

Im excited! If the console has access to steam and other other pc games, and sony games on steam/pc its the only console i might need

@Cakefish wait! Steam was confirmed?!? Hell yeah if true!

Although to all the people drooling at the possibility of Sony games running on an Xbox, do not get your hopes up. Sony can and will likely block access to running their pc games on Xbox consoles. At least at this current stage, the future may change there.

Check Sony games on GeForce Now and their non-ability to stream on Xbox, yet other developer games can without issue.

Good news I suppose it's still a long way away to next gen for me anyways I'll stick with my series x for a couple years to come for sure but it definitely sounds promising for Xbox next gen I think they could surprise people and do very well!
Especially if they have a load of day one gamepass games on the console!
You buy the console and can either pay at least 80 quid for one game on another platform or buy the Xbox sub to gamepass for probably about 20 quid by the time the new consoles drop and get access to at least 3 I'd say day one drops for the new gen I know what I would go for!
But then again I am biased 🤷

Finally the speculation can be (mostly) put to rest! If this new console does somehow integrate Steam - which isn't mentioned by name and still seems unlikely - then this console could capture the sizable market of dual PC/Console owners, especially if Sony continue to release exclusives on PC.

@Dm9982 she literally says that alternative storefronts will be supported and that this XSX successor runs Windows. So yeah! Steam! Incredible news to just suddenly drop on us like this out of nowhere. Why didn’t they announce this last week at the showcase?

I think Steam probably is the “multiple stores” with rumors already that they were working with them. Fingers crossed!

The 'Windows the Number 1 platform for gaming' comment makes me think that the Xbox and Windows team working together to make a Gaming Optimised OS that boots up with a Controller focused User Interface, but can also boot to the full multitasking Windows OS, is the template for the 'Next' Xbox.

I can see MS building an Xbox with the SAME OS as the RoG Xbox Ally X - maybe with 'Xbox' specific hardware built in for 'Back Compat' reasons as not all your Xbox library also supported Play Anywhere.

However, that means that every Publisher, inc Microsoft, only need to make a 'PC' version and maybe release with 'optimised' settings specific for the Xbox PC - but you can tweak them like a PC if you want to as well. You buy a game on Xbox, you can play on ANY PC regardless or buy on PC and play on Xbox - even if you buy from Steam for example.

Sony won't sell their 'PC' games through the Microsoft Store, they'll be exclusive to Steam/Epic etc but you can still play on 'Xbox'. From Sony's perspective, they don't release Day 1 on PC often (if at all). Microsoft own Windows, Xbox, DirectX and whether you game on Microsoft Servers, Microsoft Windows PC or Microsoft Xbox Consoles, you are all Microsoft Customers...

Microsoft built the Xbox to bring PC gaming to the mainstream in an affordable way - now 25 years later, gaming PC's are 'affordable' to play PC games - maybe not at 4k/120 HDR with full Ray Tracing - but still play those games at least at 'Console' settings (inc at or above Switch or Series S quality/frame rate) - even these Handhelds offer a Gaming PC at 'prices' unbelievable when Xbox started and playing games no-one would have believed possible, let alone running on something so small and portable.

Awesome. That back compat commitment can be put to bed now and we can focus on the more fun stuff, like what the heck it's even gonna be!

@FraserG she confirmed in the video that it runs Windows though and boasted about alternative storefronts, what else could she mean by that? If it runs Windows that means it’s a PC and that surely means it’s compatible with Steam. Am I going crazy? What else could this mean?

"a portfolio of devices" ... did she just confirm a true xbox handheld ? In addition to a home console. Anyway, I feel like Xbox is preparing the ultimate console that everyone will want to get their hands on.

I glad you guys are excited. I feel like video games announcement these days are like:

"Buy a Ps5 Pro to play The Last of Us Part 2"

Kind of what @Boogaloo_Jenkins is saying.

God this ai talk is getting stale

Nice. I’ll be waiting for it. But, I’m not convinced about the “Windows first” part. We will see.

Imagine sitting in a beach in a hot Tuesday June afternoon and have the next generation of consoles being casually announced in a random YouTube video. Oh wait...

Anyway, personally I would love it if the next Xbox would be Steam combatible.

Excellent, this is most excellent news. I want Microsoft to go in a different direction from what they’ve been doing and some of the quotes from Sarah Bond make me really hopeful we'll see something different from them.

In theory it sounds amazing, hardware leaps and bounds ahead of what we have seen before with access to multiple store fronts!

Running on Windows is a huge caveat for me though. Is this full windows with a console overlay? If so that means you get Windows with all its updates and security issues not to mention instabilities - although you'd hope their own hardware would mitigate some of that.

The there's the question of price. If this is a top end PC with access to any store front then how are MS going to make any money off it? Steam is regularly cheaper and Epic gives away 100 plus games a year, at best they get a gamepass sub out of you but that's small fry compared to full on game sales.

Which leads me to believe it will be priced to make a profit and that means to achieve the high end, generational leap it is going to be very very expensive.

It’s a shame that Nvidia are so damn expensive. AMD are the clear choice for a mass market console, but it’s still slightly disappointing to know that any gpu upscaling, frame generation or raytracing is likely to be inferior to anything available on Nvidia hardware.

I guess it’ll still be a significant improvement over RDNA 2. I do hope they don’t try to push raytracing at the expense of performance and rely too much on frame generation. Next generation should be 60fps as standard with frame generation only implemented to push beyond that standard, not to achieve it.

@BAMozzy very well said. not locked to a single store so yes ps wont need to put their games on the microsoft store itself but since everything will be a windows device in the future you'll be able to play them through steam.

@Dm9982

Although to all the people drooling at the possibility of Sony games running on an Xbox, do not get your hopes up. Sony can and will likely block access to running their pc games on Xbox consoles

Frankly most of us would be shocked if they wouldn’t block them 😅. Like you point out they are doing it already with GeForce.

Personally, I’m far, far more interested in options like this: there's a reference to delivering an Xbox experience that's "not locked to a single store or tied to one device", with Team Xbox working closely alongside the Windows team, rather than being able to play Sony PC games on Xbox.

That puts the rumours about the next generation of Xbox consoles being built around ARM to rest. It's a bit shame though, Microsoft is actually in a position to build an effective X86/64-to-ARM translation layer for backwards compatibility.

Did they say anything of full xbox library on PC? Would love to ensure Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey are available outside the console. Also Dragon age origins and 2 with controller support on pc

@Neither_scene Yeah… It suck. I would love to see what a modern Nvidia base console (non-handheld) would be capable of. Nvidia just didn’t have anything on the market during designing of the PS4/Xbox One. Now it too hard to make the change from AMD to Nvidia for compatibility reasons.

@FraserG I appreciate you keeping a sensible level-head here 😅 and you’re right - it’s not official confirmation. But now we know that the next Xbox is indeed running Windows I just don’t see how this won’t run Steam, as if it’s completely locked down then how’s that any different to what we have now with Series X? And why would they give handhelds full-fat Windows but hamstring the flagship living room device with a crappy Windows-lite version? It wouldn’t make any sense to do that, the way I see it. I want to believe! I think Xbox Ally is the beta test for the OS of the XSX successor.

@Sol4ris Same, would love my Steam library accessible to my Xbox consoles, especially if they go a native Xbox handheld route. Truly hoping they haven’t cancelled that as per the rumors suggest.

@J_Mo_Money Exactly and as Sony don't release their games Day 1 on PC, they will also have that 'Console' exclusivity.

I'm certain the next 'Xbox' will be a PC, like the RoG Xbox Ally, use the same Windows OS so that it is a Gaming PC. Therefore you have the exact same Game Library as ANY PC and Devs won't ever 'need' to make a Xbox Console' specific version ever again. What they may do though is provide 'optimised' settings (Quality/performance modes) for a 'fixed spec' PC - which the Xbox PC would inevitably be. You won't 'need' Play Anywhere anymore because 'Xbox' and 'Windows PC' is the SAME platform - just one maybe built by MS with a 'fixed spec', or you buy 'Custom' spec Windows PC from Asus, Lenovo etc...

I do think they will sort out some Back Compat solution for Xbox Console games - either use AI or Software driven emulation or perhaps have some custom hardware built in to address that problem of 'legacy' software - some of which released long before Play Anywhere and if you wanted to play your OLD games, you also had to keep your OLD hardware too - you can't play SM64 on a GameCube just because you still own the SM64 Cartridge or play your Call of Duty Black Ops 3 on your Series S because you still own the disc. I do wonder if their Solution to Back Compat would be Exclusive to their Console/Brand so that ONLY Xbox Branded PC's have the 'full' BC with their Xbox Console Library whilst others will only play PC versions. I guess that depends on whether or not its software integrated into the Windows OS, a separate Software that requires certain spec hardware (especially if AI driven) and/or what they need in the Chip. Older PC's or lower spec (like Handhelds) may not have the resources or 'power' to run the games and Emulation software for example

Has there ever been a word salad video like this released about a console that hasn't been announced in earnest and is likely years away?

This brand's stock is so low right now that they feel the need to just put out a 1 minute "hey we're still making something, seriously believe us" video so that their few current customers don't completely abandon ship.

@Jenkinss I agree it’s full of superfluous marketing buzzwords, but that’s every Xbox statement these days. It worked on me though. As a customer I am indeed reassured. It confirms that the next Xbox runs Windows while still retaining backwards compatibility with the XSX library. Sounds like a dream come true to me!

Between this, the focus on BC, the concept of several storefronts, a powerful jump, and everything else - is something very hard not to be excited about. Like I said elsewhere, if people can see past exclusives and look more towards inclusiveness I'm sure they will follow suit.

The fact that it's looking increasingly likely that we may be able to play countless more games from several other storefronts, including games that may not come to console straight away (or indeed entirely), is certainly something to be excited about IMO. Next gen Xbox is cooking good!!

So, I think this announcement has shifted by 90% certainty that there will be another Xbox generation to probably 95%...!

That said, I'm still baffled by why Microsoft would want to include a store (Steam) on their next Xbox that will, more often than not, offer the same games, available on the Xbox, but at a cheaper price, and that includes day one of release, not just a few months later in a sale. And when it comes to sales, Steam games are ridiculously cheap by comparison to the Xbox (and indeed the PlayStation). So, if you are not interested in Play Anywhere because you only have this PC/Console, and you are not worried about having two (or more libraries), then why on Earth would you choose to buy your games via the Xbox Store?

And then there's Epic Store, they give away at least one game for free every single week. Yes, they are often tat, but they also give away some brilliant games too. At least once a month you can expect Epic to give you a game for free that were you to buy it you would have to pay £50. As an example, they recently gave away Dead Island 2 for free. I currently have 432 games in my Epic Store library, and yet I only paid for two of them! My point being if you have access to the Epic Store and Steam, why would you buy from Microsoft? To me, it seems to be a massive act of self-harm...

So the next generation is PC and streaming from PCs where hardware can't fill the void. I'm happy with that, planned on switching to PC after this gen anyway for Xbox. Hope all my hundred+ Xbox purchases transfer over!

I'd also like Xbox to give us the promised visuals and power for THIS generation rather than saying they're making a machine that takes 10 years to develop games for. They have to release an 8K game I can't even play just to fulfill their marketing promise

@Juanalf Might be about AMD wanting to reassure investors about commitment to gaming?

This sounds like awesome news, but it’s a wait and see for me. Prior to this generation of console releases, I chose to purchase a Series X rather than PS5 first (I was always going to get both). I was excited about the Bethesda acquisitions and other studios. And then the promise that Microsoft always makes - the games are coming - never came to fruition, until this year. By this point, most of, if not all the games I’m interested in from Microsoft is playable on the PS5, or will be. In my humble opinion, 2022 was an incredible year for Game Pass and I was blown away by the content. It was my main source of gaming from a console standpoint. And then it disappeared. I would love for this new iteration to be something to genuinely look forward to, but I can wait for PS5/6 versions (I also prefer the trophy system over achievements). Moreover, it’s becoming more and more likely that first party Xbox games are becoming day-and-day on console releases. All of that being said, I am enjoying the content Game Pass is delivering this year. If this remains steady and consistent, it might become my go-to choice for gaming, but that’s the key - consistency (and also genuine marketing).

I just hope there is a disc edition

Not sure what to think about this. Gaming on Windows is 100% a reason why I've switched to consoles exclusively, but at the same time if MS can back up creating a streamlined console-like experience.. why not?
I'll just have to see it to believe it (and I'll drop out of it the first time my drivers cause a game crash, etc..)

I don't even need anything crazy. Just give me a console which delivers 120fps for all new games, have backwards compatibility with all previous systems and maybe some extra features co-developed with Valve, like streaming Steam games on Xbox console through a Steam Link like app. I believe my wishlist is pretty reasonable.

I hope they include physical games when they say « library »

This gets asked absolutely everywhere, no one has solved this puzzle... except me. (joking smugface here)

Adding Steam etc generates a TON of excitement. Xbox goes from dying to everyone is excited for it instantly with the word Steam. Everyone gets this. The downside is, all those game sales are going to be on Steam, right? Microsoft loses all that money! Again, everyone gets this.

Here's what everyone is missing: Xbox gamers don't buy games. They've been conditioned to stop buying games for many years now. Once again, this is going to be a game pass machine. What Microsoft loses is beans. They're not going to cry when they lose their 30% of the 22,000 copies of FF16 sold. They are however going to totally rejuvenate the brand because hey, you CAN play Helldivers 2, God of War, and DOTA2 on it!

Having Steam on an Xbox console is a huge press win and a minimal revenue loss for Microsoft.

@themightyant Steam is Play Anywhere by default though. Any device that can install the Steam client can run Steam games - unless OS combability issues get in the way, as is sometimes the case with Linux and especially Mac. You buy from Steam and you can play that game on your Xbox Ally or any desktop/laptop/handheld PC, and even your Steam Deck in the most cases. So Xbox Play Anywhere offers nothing that Steam doesn't already - except for cloud streaming.

@themightyant I’m a bit confused, but maybe I’m just misunderstanding you. Whether you purchase on Microsoft Store or Steam the end result will be the same - you can play the game on any Windows device. I guess if you mean XSX|S consoles then yeah, but why would anyone purchasing this new gen device keep their old console around when this one has been confirmed to have backwards compatibility?

Hang on.
They best announce quick resume.
Else that’s it 🤣🤣🤣

Best feature this generation, bar none.

@Dan1283 would you say that about Phil?…

@Dm9982 I think next generation will be the "AI generation", that exploits AI to make gaming more immersive so I think the next generation could be much more interesting. Returns on graphcis investment are dwindling so think AI is a chance to really have a generational leap

No wonder they need to repeat every year that the next generation is coming when websites and PS fans try to wipe Xbox off the map daily.

AMD is good news for pure backwards compatibility.

I think we are looking at hat trick from MS:

1. Series X 2 on xbox os
2. Xbox PC (likely partnership)
3. Xbox PC handheld (likely partnership)

Not sure windows with xbox interface will be ready by 2027 to the point its THAT good to drop consoles completely.
Due to gta 6 I think we will see closer to 40M of series sold, with most GP subs being on a console.
Not sure its wise to drop out completely from cinsoles as of 2027 or so.
It will sell tho even less than series and likely have more issues with devs skipping the platform but we will see.
Even if they do a lazy pro like update for SX but for next gen - already better for us and industry then Ms fully shutting down consoles

this was an unexpected way to reveal the next gen

for the best new rog it will cost a thousand bucks or more..

What sony games everyone is talking about here? They have 1-2 games from 1st party at best. The rest is timed exclusives from partners.

If you wanna catch on 90% of PS games - get used ps4 for a price of 1.5 games and enjoy.

There was literally investor presentation where they talked about delivering “at least 1 game”. Thats a literal joke. And i come from ps3 era where for real you could play mostly exclusives and drown in them.

Great news. And if you think bout it, it sort of already has "multiple stores". You can currently access Ubi and Epic stores indirectly thu GP. Granted in a limited format, but this seems to be a broader extension of that.

If Sony keeps pushing games to PC, I'll never need to be a 2 console household again! Having access to my Xbox library and Steam ha an always been a dream.

@J_Mo_Money yup

I suspect we'll get a proper announcement during the 25th anniversary next year (maybe in TGA to head into the new year with a massive hype train). To me though, next gen IS the vision. Hardware really doesn't seem to be doing the leaps and bounds anymore, and even powerful hardware just doesn't have much to do (there's only so much better games can actually get developed). What I want from Xbox is to go full speed ahead on building a ubiquitous gaming ecosystem across console, PC, Cloud, and mobile (if the courts open up Android and iOS). The next generation of Xbox consoles for me just needs to play all currently available games (check) and be a reasonably priced pure gaming focused experience (oh and for God's sake at least a detachable or external disc drive). On PC I just need them copy valve and create an optimized gaming mode using the Xbox experience (check). On cloud they just need to massively improve the tech under the hood (more than doable (cries in Bethesda Orion promises)). The ducks are lined up in a row, and it will be the software that determines if they get a home run. The Xbox Games Showcase needs to be the norm for Xbox Play Anywhere. Ideally (though unlikely) every game should by default launch with Play Anywhere on Xbox consoles, Xbox PC, and Xbox Cloud. Paid multiplayer needs to go away. Xbox won't need to force gamers into their ecosystem if they just make Xbox the undisputed best place to play, best place to buy your games (best value), and the best place to preserve your library (not tying it to a single platform). And for God's sake Microsoft advertise your consumer businesses for once this time around.

@Sindayl not particularly no lol

@Moby Microsoft recently made it so that you can buy, and I think download and update Ubisoft games (as in not just those on game pass) through the Microsoft store. At the very least you can now search and buy them. They do the same for Battle Net games that don't have a native MS store version. I wouldn't be surprised if they work with Valve, Epic, and GOG to do a similar thing with there stores. And it wouldn't be a hard sell because I don't think MS takes a cut. They just want people to use the MS store and be able to search and access all available windows software through one storefront. Microsoft is also working on a way to update apps across storefronts through a single update hub. Again, it'd be very easy for them to incorporate this into their PC gaming side of things. Between the Xbox full screen mode and all this, Microsoft could actually succeed in making gaming on windows not a pain.

@Millionski I really don't think they'll ever drop Xbox consoles or go full windows. They just make too much money. The problem with consoles is that they aren't getting new users, but their existing users are fairly stable. Like if we're pessimistic they sold 30 million units in five years, slower than usual but not bad. Bad is the WiiU at less than 15 million in that same time and Nintendo came back from that strong. There's also the last gen elephant. COD 2025 is STILL releasing on last gen platforms. Xbox users are also spending more money (on series and one consoles) and Microsoft gets 30% or 100% of all sales ON XBOX. Whereas on windows Microsoft gets 12% (from their own store), 100% (if someone buys from their store or battle net), 70% (if someone buys their games on Steam), or a big fat 0% (in any other case) of game sales. Windows is still a big business due to selling licenses to OEMs and hardware and whatnot, but they'd lose a LOT of money and control giving up on consoles. And it's be needless. They don't have to do much with consoles anymore as it's a mature market and product. They can even scale back and stop doing mid gen upgrades (which they already haven't this gen) and the like. We can also expect gamers to be more sticky and generations to be less of an immediate shift (like this gen). They can have a traditional console AND improve gaming on windows with Xbox experiences (like the Xbox full screen mode) and then let OEMs handle PCs as always.

@WildConcept6 I agree. I think yeah if next gen sells less than 10M in 3 years or so, thats where problems start. If pacing will be more or less like series s/x = no issue.
Series s/x is already gen thats successful enough to keep going.
However, I do fear next xbox console without exclusives and with marketing in lines of “you dont need an xbox” can really flop on sales.
Probably it will sell 20-25 mostly for GP people and fans but whether thats enough for 3rd party and MS to keep going - remains to be seen.

Consoles still need decent sales to keep going. Xbox PCs on the other hand - doesnt matter as it gets support like any pc. I think eventually xbox console userbase will go to ps6 or pc (whether regular or xbox pc or steam os)

So visuals, don't care, back compat for all existing games part of it.... sure, why not. But to me no matter the 4K, HDR, RT, etc. for back compat to apply to or modern games, I don't care.

Steam can be offered. I still don't care. It's nice but who cares if the games still suck.

When console competition/offering Xbox as an option is the only thing I care about with an Xbox then what it can actually can do because it's so bad. There is a reason I barely care about the Xbox or PlayStation at all. Yet years ago would gladly support them.

They can make it a PC like or another Xbox. For competition I'm all for it. For everything Xbox has done I've touched none of it's so boring, nothing will change for me. I'll ignore it like I already have this gen, same as PS5, boring consoles, boring games, eh OS design and average to boring peripherals/gimmicks that do a decent job.

When can we get to actual 'games' not visual/story telling garbage we have been getting for years now ever since PS3/360 when we had enough decent ideas in some trends to now just graphics card/story telling priorities I never want to play. The wrong mentality and continuing with it. Devs/console makers/publishers are just so boring.

I'm just going to mechanically compelling older games more and more, laughing at wrong potential using Indies and just ignoring AA/AAA mentality garbage, because the industry and audiences just want more and more of it. Refinements or stagnation, pass.

They can rework the OS layers, sure, if it's just for the bare minimum don't care. I want the 2013-2017 TV TV TV stuff as in not THAT per say but the feature for any apps/games. What quick resume kind of fills the space of now I guess.

Pass on the 100th boring way to offer social features/other stuff we didn't need but got priority over.

Or any other console gimmicks I'd like to see. Or even something else besides Impulse Triggers being the highlight to me on the Xbox One controller as awesome (even better then HD Rumble) to a share button on Series S/X controllers/grip feel. Well that sucked.

The game design still sucks, the visuals don't impress and I want other controller/console gimmicks. The consoles and games are bad, boring, unoriginal and trend boring. Devs/console makers mentalities are just a waste it's so disappointing.

We won't see better game design ideas, we have to see boring visuals/story telling I don't even want to buy/Gamepass try out ever. Great.

I have no interest in this at all. I'll keep playing my back log or my OG Xbox/360 games that aren't back compat or are OG Xbox only on 360 back compat. Let alone the other platforms I'd rather play on as well older games or odd modern games I barely play.

@Banjo-

And you can guarantee articles like this one to bring them out like clockwork every time.

It goes like : Why is Microsoft taking this approach or, this is a desperate attempt from them, or, they are leaving the hardware business etc, etc.
But my favourite one, is, how will a trillion dollar corporation make money by allowing multiple store fronts without the walled garden approach that everyone seems to be such big fans of 😅.

Im happy there will be an xbox console next generation, it would have been bad in many ways if not. I´m not sure I´ll get one though, if they keep their strategy of releasing games on all platforms I might settle for buying Xbox games but not the console.

Backward compatibility confirmed but with your physical media though 🧐?

"Sarah goes on to say how this AMD partnership will deliver "the next generation of graphics innovation" resulting in "a deeper level of visual quality".

Well, that's to be expected from a new generation. And they have used AMD, since Xbox One. I'm keeping my expectations low.
This time I'll wait and see what happens, instead of buying on release.

Going to sounds an odd question but if I were to buy a brand new top of the range PC today, wouldn't it be able to play Xbox games AND Steam games and likely be as powerful as the next Xbox? I don't really understand what the difference is? Isn't the next Xbox technically already available now then?
Edit: And another question? Would the only difference on top of my head be that my brand new PC bought today will play all those games online for free, but the Xbox version would require a subscription to play online?

I don't get why so many people get a hard on hoping for Steam on the console. 90% of the library on Steam already exists on console anyway. The only reason the ROG does it already and people speculate is the fact the ROG was already designed to access Steam and the Xbox app is just piggybacking on something that already existed.

As for Sony games being playable on dedicated Xbox hardware, I'd stake money on it that they'd block access to them. Which they can easily do. Again, it can be done on the ROG but technically that's not an Xbox device, they've just added their app for Play Anywhere and a button.

I did mention that, @themightyant, but the subset of gamers that will own a handheld device too is going to be very small, and those that do have a handheld certainly won't buy games from the Xbox Store in sufficient numbers to make up the shortfall caused by everyone else buying their games on a store other than the Xbox Store. It will undoubtedly be a massive act of self-harm.

Lastly, when it comes to the consoles people own, it is usually an Xbox and a PlayStation and/or a Switch, or a combination of those. Thus, if you own any, or all three of those, you will still only be able to play Xbox games bought from the Xbox Store on the Xbox. You would have to own a handheld other than a Switch to access Play Anywhere, and buy a heck of a lot of games from the Xbox Store if you are going to make inroads to the losses that Microsoft will be making when people buy their games elsewhere than the Xbox Store. Game Pass wouldn't really count because the entry point is so low that Microsoft won't be making money from you...

@themightyant I don’t think it’s a random time to announce it. Sony just officially put out a fireside chat where they talk about Xbox dropping the console altogether. Xbox probably thought they should address that - i’m glad they did!

So we could be looking at a box that has all my Xbox library (3rd party included) the EA access stuff and then adding to that steam epic and maybe GOG. Thats pretty interesting, cheap steam sales for 3rd party plus PS pc ports, gamepass for xbox 1st party sounds nice and I guess Epic can just stand there in the back.

I would probably get that day one if thats what was on offer.

@GADG3Tx87

1) I have something like 800 games on Steam

2) there are still games coming out that don't have cross play that id rather have on Steam. ER Nightreign and Jump Ship off the top of my head

3) no, Sony can't easily block Steam games from some Windows devices running Steam. You would lose whatever money you're putting down. This isn't something I personally care about since FFVII was the only PS exclusive I felt I was missing.

My view on this and if it does still exist console wars is officially dead as all three now will be positioned in their own unique space.

Playstation will be for console traditionalists and those who like PS exclusives. MS will be for the PC gamer market who want a hybrid between PC and console. And Nintendo will be for .... Well there will still only be one place to play their games.

What it will do is make it more difficult for let's say Amazon, or Apple if they wanted to, to break into the console market I mean look how Google fared with Stadia. To offer something unique with the way these three are positioned now imo wouldn't be doable.

@Jenkinss
They've been known to purposely block games on GeForce Now to prevent Xbox users from accessing them. They could do it if they wanted to. Regardless of the form the Xbox takes it still needs an installer as a storefront for Steam, the hardware via that is easily identifiable and games can be restricted access to it.

@themightyant I can’t find the actual timestamp for it but this tweet (ignore the guy actually tweeting and his comments) clipped it https://x.com/passiveprophet/status/1935032212136530299?s=46&t=RZD8eqRuj7JRII0QVXd-fg

The guy asking the questions puts it forward.

Backwards compatibility is really a key point for me.
I'm fed up with all those sequels/ souls like games... Too few I'd not good... As too much too !!

@themightyant well i’m hearing “moving away from the console” as just that. I understand that hes saying “investors are speculating” but they are still discussing it. Not like any of the Sony staff said “no they’re not” (in regards to Microsoft moving away from the console).

@Boogaloo_Jenkins

My thoughts exactly. Doesnt feel like this generation has even properly started.

I know i am in no hurry

@Fiendish-Beaver I think they make xbox SX 2 on xbox OS as usual (so no steam or anything) but they partner with someone like asus to make xbox PCs.
xbox PC audience definitely will prioririze steam/epic over xbox pc store - no doubt. Only exception can be PA titles but again those are mostly MS 1st party and GP.

So you will be able to choose from 3 devices essentially. That makes sense given diversficiation strategy.

I dont think its wise to drop out of consoles yet (even that I personally though it can happen as early as 2027) - simply windows OS + xbox interface wont be ready by that time (to the point it can fully replace consoles).
Plus we will see console spike due to gta 6...we might see close to 40M series sold, which is decent. 3rd party is not dead on xbox - on the contrary we have wukong and Square Enix, Kodjima games coming.

So next gen is a transition gen with all kinds of devices and after that maybe they finally get out of consoles.

@Cakefish yeah statement is very vague. What is confirmed is multiple devices in the works, one of them will be handheld. Sure windows device will support multiple storefronts.
When they say "console" they might mean SX successor on xbox OS (same as series) - this wont support steam or anything. Or they could mean next console running windows - so its not a console but PC (yet they call it console due to probably streamlined experience).

My take they do console and xbox PC and handheld (this probably also on windows). PC stuff likely will be partnered, whilst a console should be produced internally to be subsidized.

Silent hill day one wiill be enough...

Thing is I am not really sure why I would even want a next gen Xbox by this point. Microsoft seems to be determined to release all of their games on Playstation and the Series X as well as the Xbox One has already had all of the backwards compatibility I could want that they seem to be willing to deliver. I just don't see the selling point for getting a next gen device from them. What are they going to sell it to me with, Gamepass? That's not good enough to sell me on an entire console.

@Netret0120 Yeah I have no idea why they would be trying to rush into a next gen so soon when most new AAA releases are still being sold as "crossgen" titles. Heck they still had some big releases this year exclusive to last-gen consoles, Capcom Fighting Collection 2 comes to mind. That and any real big releases seem to take years and years to develop, it's why this gen has been feeling like it's just sort of started to get somewhere. I just really have no desire to be getting into a next generation of consoles right now. Heck this gen has been real heavy on the remasters and remakes anyways, I have a hard time seeing a next gen having anything significant going for it for a long time.

On this very site for years now, I've said the new Xbox console most likely be Switch style console.

My past posts absolutely prove been calling this one for a while now.

I still could be wrong. But still think I'm correct in my belief. Yet no one gives me credit here in comments section or in articles on here. Pfffffffft. Lame.

Come on now! Lol

While I do have a Series X my go to platform is PC, (cost is not an object), so I'm not the market for whatever hybrid system Microsoft have planned.

I've no interest in PlayStation at this time so I guess I won't be buying a new game console next generation.

@GADG3Tx87 Geforce Now is a platform. Steam is a platform. A PC running Steam isn't a platform, Steam is the platform. This is not a comparison even worth talking about.

Valve is in the drivers seat here. If you think they're going to allow games sold on their platform to work on some PCs but not others, you're crazy. They'll have to start putting an asterisk next to every game saying what hardware configurations are blocked and which aren't? They'll tell Sony to take a hike. I'd take that bet 100 times out of 100, it's easy money. Sony doesn't make Valve a fraction of the money it would require to strongarm them into a change like that.