Xbox's Next-Gen Vision Could Transform How We Look At Consoles In The Future
Image: Microsoft, Xbox

I've been thinking a lot about the next Xbox console recently and all the rumours that are doing the rounds about it - that it'll be more Windows-based, that it'll be very cloud and AI-based, and that it may even feature Steam support.

Who knows how true any of these will be, but I think it's a safe-ish bet that when the new Xbox console does roll around, it's going to differ - potentially a lot - to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S systems we've become accustomed to over the past five years. How can it not? Xbox (or "Microsoft Gaming") has a totally different vision these days.

The days of 2020 and 2021 feel very much like another era now. Sure, PC Game Pass was a thing and Xbox Cloud Gaming was just kicking off, but most of the attention was rightfully on the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S - including features that have since gone silent like backwards compatibility and FPS Boost. Microsoft certainly wasn't pushing itself heavily as a third-party publisher and talking about "every device being an Xbox" as it is today.

Xbox's Next-Gen Vision Could Transform How We Look At Consoles In The Future 2
Image: Microsoft, Xbox

Something changed following the mammoth acquisitions of Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. The whole vibe around Xbox as a brand wasn't the same anymore. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I do think it indicates that Xbox has changed in a monumental way. It's on a new path now. The next consoles could take a very different form as a result.

I've talked before how I think the Xbox One era ended up becoming a testing ground for the Xbox Series X and S in many ways - the likes of Xbox Game Pass and backwards compatibility started during the Xbox One generation, but really came into their own when the new consoles rolled around. And, unsurprisingly, those features also transformed how we think about consoles these days - just look at how Sony followed suit with backwards compatibility on PS5, and how the Switch 2 was essentially forced into including it (because not including it would have been a disaster!).

And now, we might be in for an even more significant shift with the next Xbox console. For starters, Xbox is slowly killing the idea of console exclusives. Sure, PlayStation (and Nintendo) are holding onto them for now, but if Xbox continues down this path and it works really well, Sony's hand in particular may be forced at some point in the future. That might sound unfathomable, but here's what Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler had to say on the matter recently:

Simply put, the economics have changed. Making exclusives for one platform that sells 50-70m units or so made sense when games cost 5, 10, 50m to make. Nowadays games cost 100-150m and up to produce, so unless you’re lucky to be the ring leader, you’ll not be able to afford to limit your potential audience.

Given how much it costs to make the AAA games Sony and Microsoft have been known to make, you're not doing yourself or your audience any favors by locking players down to a specific box. Especially if you can't guarantee that your box will be THE box, which nobody can anymore.

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Image: Push Square

Beyond just exclusives though, this whole thing about the new Xbox console being more Windows-based is very intriguing. That doesn't necessarily mean we're looking at a PC-under-a-TV type scenario... but there's definitely hope in some circles that we'll be getting something along those lines.

At the very least, it'd be great if this means developers find it easier to bring their games to Xbox consoles in the future. As a stretch goal, a lot of people want to see Steam, the Epic Games Store, Battle.net and all these other launchers appearing on a new Xbox console too. There's no evidence to suggest this is happening, but Xbox boss Phil Spencer has surprisingly lent his support to the idea in the past. Here's what he told Polygon:

Nobody would blink twice if I said, ‘Hey, when you’re using a PC, you get to decide the type of experience you have [by picking where to buy games]'. There’s real value in that.

If that was to happen, consoles would never be the same again!

Let's not forget about these Xbox handheld plans as well. Sure, the device we're seeing this year is probably just going to be an ASUS ROG Ally with an Xbox interface, but don't be surprised if the first-party handheld that's rumoured for 2027 takes a very similar form to the next Xbox console. Microsoft is trying desperately to integrate Xbox into every single device out there, and I feel like we could get to a point where all of these systems are essentially just versions of the same thing - the same UI, the same features, but in a different form factor. At that point, a console isn't just the box that sits under your TV anymore - it's your handheld and whatever else as well.

This is all without going into detail about the other things that could transform how we look at consoles in the future - how Xbox Cloud Gaming will continue to be pushed heavily, how the decline of physical Xbox media will probably result in a disc-less system next time around... we could be looking at a very different future for Xbox hardware.

But hey, who knows? It's still early days, and perhaps we'll find out that all these rumours weren't quite on the money, or perhaps Microsoft will have a change of heart and go back to the drawing board. Whatever happens, there's definitely a lot to be intrigued about as Xbox fans over the next couple of years - let's see how it all plays out.

What are your thoughts on this? Let us know down in the comments section below.