xbox President Sarah Bond has confirmed that Microsoft's next-generation console is in development. There has been no shortage of rumors and speculation surrounding the company's future console plans, especially amid the recent pricing controversy and the launch of ASUS-manufactured handhelds. Many details about the next-gen Xbox are still a mystery, but fans now know that Microsoft is working on something.
With a few notable exceptions like the Nintendo Switch 2, gaming hardware as a whole has struggled to sell like it has in the past. Tariffs and other macroeconomic factors have also raised doubts about price accessibility, leading some to believe there may be major changes to the system in the future. Some have claimed that the next-gen Xbox is no longer a certainty, but Microsoft has denied these rumors. Now gamers have received additional clarity from the company.
Xbox president Sarah Bond has confirmed that Microsoft is currently developing its next-generation console.
In an interview with Variety, Bond outlined some of Xbox's plans outside of its recently released handheld gaming console, saying, “We're working on the next generation of hardware.” She didn't give specifics, but noted that the company has at least started designing and building prototypes. Bond also said that Xbox is partnering with AMD on this project and will make an announcement about that partnership soon. The big news involving AMD is consistent with previous leaks claiming that AMD is making its largest-ever APU for the next-gen Xbox, which will help the console outperform the PlayStation 6 running on AMD components.
In the interview, Bond also hinted at future hardware beyond the successors to the Xbox Series X and S. Xbox executives said the company recognized the opportunity “to give gamers another choice beyond next-generation hardware.” There are rumors that Xbox has scrapped its handheld after AMD wanted huge production targets to create the SoC for the system, but this could mean an internally produced handheld. Of course, these are just rumors, but there are plenty of ways the company could give gamers more choices outside of other portable consoles. Fans will have to wait for more official information to know for sure what Bond has come up with.
Whatever the future of Xbox consoles looks like, the path ahead for the company is uncertain. Meanwhile, Xbox Game Pass set a new revenue record in fiscal 2024, but hardware sales fell 22% during the same period. Microsoft is also facing a public backlash over price increases for both hardware and subscription services, so it will be interesting to see if and how this trend affects everything else that comes with the launch of the next-gen Xbox.
- brand
-
microsoft
- original release date
-
November 10, 2020
- Original MSRP (USD)
-
$499
- operating system
-
Proprietary (Windows-based)
- processor
-
Custom AMD 8-core Zen 2 3.8GHz
- solve
-
720p – 4K UHD
Source: Variety
