Rumour: Microsoft's Next-Gen Console Dubbed 'Xbox Prime' Is Possibly Coming In 2026

I've been saying it will be 2026 for over a year now...!

I've also been saying that I believe Gears of War: E-Day will be a launch title for the 'Prime', and that Perfect Dark, State of Decay 3, and Blade will also release at or around the same time. Each of these 4 games were shown at last Summers Xbox showcase, and were the only ones to not have an Xbox logo of any description on them. Hence my belief that all of them will be next generation games, though will also likely be playable on the X and S too...

@Fiendish-Beaver
I still don’t think it will happen.
But I hope so, I like new Xbox hardware.
And it best have quick resume 🤣

I get you point, @FraserG, but going early in a generation has previously been successful for team Xbox, and let's not forget that Microsoft have forgone the usual mid-generation refresh this time round, meaning developing and production of the 'Prime' can be brought forward from the usual 7/8 year mark. Plus coming out just one or two years earlier in a generation isn't that much time really when you think about it. There is probably more to gain by going early, than trying to release a console at the same time as the PS6...

How the Xbox one x handled Series games in game pass via streaming - makes me really hesitant to getting a new Xbox any time soon as I don’t think it’ll be needed for me.

Well, @OldGamer999, I think we will have a good idea come the Xbox Summer showcase because they will likely want to show off at least E-Day, and possibly the new console too. If not Summer, then definitely the Game Awards Show. If it does not happen at either of those events, then I think 2026 is probably off the cards...

I'll be good with my series x for another few years to come no matter what comes out but it will be interesting to see what the next gen console is capable of if it comes out then.

Hopefully is just a rumor. This generation hasn't started yet, be it on Xbox or Playstation.

Terrible name if true. Makes it sound like a subscription service rather than a console, which would make sense considering how Microsoft are moving forward with the Xbox brand.

I think they release a new console in 2026. I guess technically we will have to consider it a new generation of consoles but I think that line of thinking is going to fade away for the home console market. We will not see definitive generations but more devices faster. The "upgrade" between each generation will only keep getting smaller and it is already very small upgrades. Now more than ever they will not abandon other generations and most games will be cross gen.

Playstation, xbox and steam will all have their own handheld and home console lines going forward. Nintendo will probably keep the "lite" as a handheld only and maybe introduce a home console only line. There will be a ton of devices for each platform. I don't expect any of these to be on schedule with any of the others. There should be a major hardware release from at least one of the big 3 every year be it home console, handheld, revisions, pro models, lite models, spinoffs like vr or cloud systems, etc. A steady stream of new devices even more than we currently see.

Always like new hardware but IF I can get that COD, Gears on PS5, I do wonder why I'd jump into this Xbox. Know lots only play on Xbox will want new hardware still but can't see it being like the 360 with that headstart which they may want as feel the whole this is an Xbox message may have took hold.

@FraserG I think more people would be on board if Microsoft would be straight forward on where the company is going and what they are doing.

I think Tango Software didn’t want to be apart of Microsoft, and was very disgruntle. So, Microsoft had no choice but to close the studio down.

I think Toys For Bob was very reasonable but didn’t share the vision of Microsoft. The people there running TFB looked older and only wanted to make their own games.

I think that Microsoft has been releasing multi platform to keep the FTC off their back. Sony has not been the best about releasing their first party Studios and they’ve been closing down studios left and right. Which Sony has been crying that the merger would hurt them.

The fact that they didn’t have any first party, Studios, I think that’s why Microsoft released some of their titles on the PlayStation.

I just wish Microsoft would come out and say these games are staying exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem.

I really think the Bethesda acquisition those titles should remain exclusive.

It should be called Xbox 7, with the handheld being called Xbox 7P. It’s simple naming, it’s logical based on previous hardware specs (OG, 360/S/E, O/S, OX, SS, SX, 7), and 7 > 6 will look better when marketing against the PS6 (if they get a marketing budget…). Microsoft needs to get away from odd naming conventions.

And they should make it white.

@Deshalu

So....Tango hated working for MS so much that they wanted shut down? Do you ACTUALLY believe this?

No, Microsoft is porting games because Nadella wants too, nothing to do with Sony but I should've known that Sony would somehow be blamed again.

I remember sega tried this decades ago. The Saturn was floundering, so they jumped the gun and launched their next system earlier than expected. I don’t recall how that worked out for them though 🤔

@Balaam_ yeah I remember that time too. Sega was backed up by a trillion dollar company at that time and possessed some of the most lucrative IPs ever.

Oh wait, maybe I'm comparing two completely different companies and situations.

Just to chuck this in.
After seeing November 2024 almost embarrassing sales numbers, crazy low.

Is there really any point in the cost and investment to Microsoft in another Xbox home console.

If true, this generation (from MS) will be among the most disappointing.
I doubt it's accurate, though.

I quite like that name for the final console. I also like Xbox Six.

@FraserG The only way I see it making sense is if this new console breaks the norm in so many ways, being an open-platform with Steam and other storefronts.

I’m very skeptical it’ll happen as the entire business model for consoles would have to be rethought and Microsoft doesn’t seem to be willing to lose a cent from their gaming division.

@Foxx_64740 Remember what was actually backed up by a trillion dollar company in the fastest-growing industry at that time and ended up shutting down? Windows Phone.

If true that's way too early

@TeiGekiLord No, I think Tango and Microsoft break up was not good. The head creator of tango left way before the studio was shut down. There was a new lead of the studio. Yes I think there was bad blood.

Did not blame Sony. I was saying FTC. The Sony thing would favor FTC and allow them to reopen to make Microsoft sale Activision.

This is just my opinion, so relax. I’m not saying this is the gospel. That’s why I said I think

I can’t believe we’re on the 12th year of support for the Xbox One. It’ll be sad to see it go but glad to finally start the 9th generation of consoles.

@DoctorJohnDisco Cool, thanks for letting us know!

@JimmyRowe1994 I agree that some sort of number designation would be better than something like Prime, which could be assumed to be associated or confused with Amazon or th3 energy drink. 7 sounds fine and would directly compete with Sony as you're saying. Heck, even going the Windows route and slapping the release year on it seems like a better method than random names. Xbox '26 or whatever year it releases

One shall stand, one shall fall.

The only part that sounds convincing to me is that it's supposedly called the "Xbox Prime". That's a TERRIBLE name, and so is completely believable that they'd call their next console that.

@TeiGekiLord oh poor Sony. 😂

@IOI yeah and again a completely different market and scenario. Let's not forget that Windows Phone was competing against the also enormous Apple and Google in a MS first time attempt to enter the smartphone market.
Your comparison would make much more sense if MS ended Xbox after the first four years of the OG console.

We get Metroid Prime this year and Xbox Prime next year lol

I guess it’s possible to release next year, but what’s the motive for doing so? Microsoft have made it abundantly obvious that they don’t care about console sales anymore. So why rush to be first to the market? Sure it’ll take some of the wind out of PS5 Pro sails, but they’ll also just be leapfrogged by PS6 a year or two later, so that advantage will be short lived. All a bit odd, but they do like to make seemingly strange decisions so it fits their modus operandi.

I honestly think that it will launch along PS6, especially since the PS5 Pro is a ridiculous upgrade in terms of games. Microsoft was targeting 2028 during the ABK acquisition. If this rumour is true, plans have changed significantly.

Xbox Prime is the perfect name that I wouldn't have expected the Xbox marketing team to come back with. Xbox is now everywhere, but the console is the original and the first, and the word has also other meanings like main and excellent, which I'd believe after how wonderfully engineered Series X is. Xbox 7 is also a great name.

Makes sense. Series S is already at its limit. Developers won't be able to support it for long so either they go back to their word and stop supporting series s but keep supporting series x (which will also decrease the consoles they have) or they have to move on to the next gen and decide if they will keep supporting series x or not.

@Cakefish they can always release a mid gen console or if the rumors about 3rd party consoles next gen is true they don't have to bother at all.

Well that's just prime.

It makes sense with the series S limitations. Also, imagine all the Prime consoles they will sell with GTA 6 being 60fps and the best playing and looking by far on any console.

There is no way the next xbox will be a 'next gen' console. It wasn't that long ago I got my Series S and current gen games are starting to struggle on it. No way it'll cope with another gen so soon My S will become obsolete pretty quickly and leave me feeling burned.

@Foxx_64740 It wasn’t Microsoft first attempt at mobile, in fact before Google and Apple came into play Microsoft had a grip on smartphones with Windows Mobile for years, nearly a decade, once the iPhone was revealed Microsoft’s CEO infamously laughed it off and they took years to catch up, coming up very close with Windows Phone 7/8 but completely fumbling it a few years later as they lost most third-party apps support, spent billions buying Nokia, and shortly after they wanted to recoup that investment ASAP and released Office in iOS and Android, effectively killing the only advantage WP still had over those platforms and obviously WP dwindled until it became irrelevant and died.

The similarities are remarkable and with Microsoft the writing is on the wall, if you don’t want to see it that’s another story.

I can’t see it. It wouldn’t be the big leap that Sarah bond was talking about.

Yes it would be more powerful, would be opposite to Sony, but would it be much better than a pro currently? They would have a head start, but then Sony will come in with the ps6 that would then be an upgrade again.

Xbox prime? I like the way @Banjo- thinks.

But for me, there is already Amazon prime, and that stupid prime drink stuff. So for that reason I don’t think it would work as brand recognition. Some one mentions prime and adults would associate it with Amazon, younger people with the drink.

I think Microsoft will be going with what is basically a PC, @FraserG. I think it will be a premium item that will only appeal to the hardcore Xbox fan, and that will be absolutely fine with Microsoft. They will keep making the Series consoles as 'lower' entry machines for those unwilling to buy the 'Prime'.

I've seen talk of the 'Prime' (as we are now led to believe it to be called) also having Steam on it, but I'm not so sure how that would work because with Microsoft selling their games on Steam, then people would buy them there as they are cheaper than the traditional console versions, and that seems completely daft to me. Microsoft would lose millions in sales, and have to pay Steam for the privilege. Unless Microsoft believe that people buying on Steam is more profitable than people playing the games on Game Pass, but it still strikes me as a very odd decision if true...

My wishlist for next xbox:

1. Updated controller - add haptics and such as dualsense. I would not want any touch panel or lights - those are useless and drain battery.
2. Quick resume is a unique and killer feature. Some new feature would be cool.
3. PSSR analogue. I do think though it would be just amd FSR but updated.
4. Pricing should be reasonable. $599 max for base model.
5. No cheaper version (series s like) and parity. Prime xbox should be its own thing.
6. I would still want at least timed exclusivity for some games.

If GP pricing is reasonable enough and the power bump noticeable I would definitely go for new xbox. I have PS5 PRO as a main for next couple of years but for sure will consider going back to xbox for GP and multiplat and keeping PS for exclusives.

@Fiendish-Beaver the only problem with releasing early is giving time for PS6 to come up even stronger. Will be a bummer to not sell much in these 2 years prior to PS6, then PS6 comes up way more powerful and steals all sales whatsover.

I still kinda think xbox console playerbase is more or less static, some people will definitely switch to other platforms but people who played on xbox for years and like it will stay. Also people who mainly play GP will stay too. I dont see console MAU dropping below 40M (across 2 gens).

I like the name if they go with that. I do think it will be the last real console MS make and releasing a console before Sony has always be a questionable move that rarely pays off i mean just ask Sega.

Surely this is just the development code name. Wasn’t one of the previous Xbox’s called Project Scorpio or something in the run up to its actual announcement?

Like others have said ‘Prime’ already has strong connotations with other large companies and considering Amazon has started dipping its toes into gaming via their Prime subscription you’d think Xbox wouldn’t want to muddy the waters and cause confusion. Who knows with their bizarre naming conventions though. I would have liked to see them continue with 360 > 540 > 720 > 900 but that’s probably just my inner Tony Hawks/SSX fan coming out.

The only reason to push new gen earlier is to avoid the parity issue with series S. despite being a cool console, it created more problems without achieving sales they wanted.
Starting next gen in 2026 and ending parity would be smart. They also need an answer to features in the dualsense and their own PSSR solution.
Downside is if they release 2 years earlier then PS6 will likely be more powerful than xbox prime and due to better optimization games could run noticeably better on PS6. Definitely many people may want to just wait for ps6.
So the risk is prime xbox will not sell much for these 2 years and then drastically fall behind wheb ps6 releases.
Risky move but overall I would probably get a next xbox just for GP and to enjoy those 2 years

@DennisReynolds
Bit diffirent - Sony used their corporate cash to sell the Playstation at a loss to undercut the Sega Saturn.

Obviously that bullying the little guy tactic won't work on Microsoft.

@FraserG @themightyant the reason you (Fraser) aren’t seeing a huge performance gap in PS5 Pro from Series X is they both have roughly the same CPU. The Xbox Prime would not only gain a huge update over Series X in CPU but it would help that CPU by have AI up scaler software. Of course the graphic would be better but not sure we will see night and day difference. However physics and lighting along with other things current console struggle with, think Alan Wake 2 will now be smooth and more normal for more devs to take advantage of. I am all for new hardware about every 5-6 years as the tech inside the consoles at launch is already a few years old to begin with. Let’s hope this console has more mainstream appeal as we have read today on here that they got outsold by the PS5 15 million to 4 million in 2024 alone and as we knew is trending behind the Xbox One.

They should release a proper next gen console and simultaneously release a handheld that plays all the same games..... basically the equivalent of the series s currently...but a handheld version to partner the next cosole

@IOI spot on . As a 20 year Mac user, i remember Steve Ballmer running around stage with this tongue out sweating his shirt off laughing at the $600 price iPhone. Saying no one wants that. Only for Apple to be worth 4 trillion now, the first ever company to hit that mark. Steve Jobs always said MS don’t have a creative workforce and it showed early in the years of Xbox. They had no 1st party output. Other than a few they bought and sure they were awesome games and i loved them. But now it seems like what you said is once again being the elephant in the room and MS is once again clinging to a market that the market is slowly rejecting their products. Sucks cause i love Xbox and will support them in anyway they are around. But what you said is very very true.

@Banjo- i do like the name. Sad to read they were outsold 15 million to 4 million by PS5 in 2024. But we knew it was bad. As long as they have a console. I am here to support them. They have the most games i am interested in playing in 2025. Just hope the Prime gathers more mainstream appeal and helps them on the console side enough. PS5 Pro’s biggest mistake tho they sort of had to do it was sticking with that CPU. It bottle necks a lot of what the improvement to the GPU can do. Now once PSSR get’s a little better maybe they can achieve a little more out of it. Some games really do run better on it. Others need way more optimization time then devs are willing to give it. At $700 it’s a pass for me unless all games start to really shine above what is available on Series X and Base PS5. Which i own.

I do think that Microsoft and Sony should not release new consoles during the same year/month. I think that's stupid. If I were king for a day, I would release them a year apart. I believe the sales for both would be better. The Xbox 360 buried the PS3 in sales and it was released a year earlier.

xbox isn’t in the same dire straits that sega was when they released the dreamcast, so stopping comparing microsoft right now to sega back then.

@donv2135 Exactly. Getting all worked up over rumors is pointless and whether people like it or not, Microsoft's Xbox is here to stay.

@OldGamer999 they announced it last year and decision had been likely made prior to the announcement by Sarah.

I feel like they just dont have a choice. Its not about growing console share, its about keeping current console MAU and hence cureent GP count and revenues where they dont pay competitor store cuts.

Thats why i think even if we see those xbox-pc hybrids they will come along with traditional console. More like here is the next gen xbox for 599-699, and here is a MSI xbox hybrid for 1k or so.
They want to keep GPU and GP core counts as is and its on console. Going PC way will be bit hit for GP.

@themightyant Once again the most balanced and reasoned post on the page. I was also going to take umbridge with Frasers assertions, but recent posts from him have led me to question his ability to think rationally, so I won't bother.

Prime would clearly be a development name. Much as I like it, there's no way it will launch with that name. I rather hope if there is a release, it will be a TV PC with no windows and a fast decent front end. If they make the switch to offering PC gaming on a TV in that way, I can see lots of traction in bringing this to market sooner rather than later, and I'd be an early adopter. Who am I kidding, I'm likely to be day 1 regardless...can't help myself.

Unless it's a significant improvement over the PS5 Pro at a fraction of the cost, I don't think a 2026 release date makes much sense.

@GeeForce Sure but Sony have always outsold even with that massive head start the 360 had. Prime comes out next year but MS have little for it because while they have moved into next gen no one else actually has, basically the Prime is a PS5 Pro with a better CPU until Sony release the PS6 that will be more powerful, maybe cheaper if MS price too high and would have learned from whatever the Prime offers. MS will get a small boost early on but as soon as the PS6 drops well that's it the industry moves and Prime is yesterdays news as the "real" next gen console has arrived.

@Millionski
I think the main or only reason they need to keep in the console space is because of the 50% Xbox console GP subscriptions, about roughly 15 million of them.

I bet a million a dollars if Xbox console GP subs where say max 5 million they would not produce a next generation Xbox console.

The GP Xbox console attachment percentage is forcing Microsoft’s hand to produce another Xbox console. And it’s definitely not for the love of Xbox consoles or Xbox console gamers.

And when that next generation Xbox console sells less than the series consoles and the Xbox console GP subscriptions reduce then there will be no more Xbox consoles.

But but but I thought Xbox was done making consoles guys? Guys?! Jackasses.

2026 is way to early in my opinion.
For a start, how much will this true next-gen console retail for, expecially in light of Sony's pricing of the PS5pro at £699 for a disc-less model. Can Microsoft afford to have a console on the market that is even more expensive? I very much doubt it, hence why I think a late 2027 would make more sense.

@themightyant sure but take Indy for an example. It runs decent on the series S, but look at the PC version. So while it was meant to run on lower spec consoles that doesn’t hurt the higher spec machine at all. Speaking of Series S the faster MS can get that behind them the better for devs. 10 GB of Ram isn’t great. Also i like the name Prime cause it tells me one console. Not a Prime S and Prime X. That too will make games coming to it a tad easier. Excited to see whats to come, but i never lean on the side of newer better hardware isn’t a pro vs a con.

@DennisReynolds

Prime comes out next year but MS have little for it because while they have moved into next gen no one else actually has

The only console maker with a next-gen console next year will be Nintendo.

@DennisReynolds
Yeah, and then a year after the PS6, MS release a Prime Pro *...lol that would be interesting.

*or maybe SuperPrime? PrimeTime?

Hard to get excited for a next gen Xbox....

@Sol4ris A "next gen" console that won't even be at Steam Deck and Series S levels.

@Fiendish-Beaver do you think if Xbox released 2 years earlier than PlayStation they could use those 2 years to find a way to make theirs better or do you think it’s. Too late to make major changes in 2 years once Xbox is out

@OldGamer999 way more than 50%. During FTC I think they had 25M total subs, 22 were on xbox. After that they converted roughly 10M of gold into core - also only on xbox. Its at least 80% of all GP subs are on xbox. And yes thats why they need a traditional console while they slowly shifting subs to other platforms (steam should have native GP support in the app to start with).

@Sol4ris I think it will be less powerfull than ps6 due to launching early but they aim to price it below ps6. so maybe like 599. I dont think it will be vastly different from series X. Kinda no point to experiment with features and design for them. Probably will feel like a series X PRO with slightly updated controller.

I hope thye dont do series S again and handheld wont be tied to next xbox to not hold it back

As I said on another post, the console can do what ever it wants, getting folks to drop their digital libraries and switch platform is an uphill struggle. PS4 came out on top in the generation when people bought into digital games. They carried their libraries to PS5 and those sales numbers tell the rest of the story.

Folks like us who buy multiple consoles are a really small corner of the market compared to casual folks who buy consoles. The vast majority will just stick where their games exist. Which is why MS are pushing more into multi platform and 'everything's an xbox'. They will just be in the same predicament with the next gen as people either stick with what they have or pick up the newer version that plays the games they own.

Unless this is a streaming device or a handheld, this will be the end of Xbox as a console market player, and will mark the irreversible shift into multiplatform support.

Nobody outside of 1% hardcore Xbox fanatics will be picking this up, and it will not bring about any significant step ups to actually be its own generation; and would likely be left behind before we even reach year 2 of the PS6.

2028 should be the date for a new console, 2027 around November at the earliest.

@FraserG I get that but the biggest reason to move to another generation is CPU change. Which the PS5 Pro did not do of course. Also likely the biggest reason why Xbox didn't besides the original S & X start of gen plans and the huge slowdown of console sales in the last year.

"Prime" is probably just the internal codename like "Scarlett" was. We got a Xbox One X name instead.

Also PS5 Pro is just a RDNA3.5 GPU and with a year of 2026 Microsoft could get a full RDNA4 GPU (since it will release on PC within Q1/2 2025) plus having future hardware and features from UDNA graphics generation from AMD and their own custom hardware Microsoft engineers wants to include. AMD has a history of allowing future hardware and features for both PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

Will it be less than $500 USD? Yeah no way, it will probably be $599 USD without a disc drive in fall 2026, if it makes 2026 and not slip to 2027.

@HonestHick PS5's leap in 2024 was because of the Pro, that boosted sales with fans upgrading, but I doubt the ratio of Pro consoles will be that high by the end of the generation. 2024 is not a good year for a comparison between PS5 and Xbox nor between PS5 and PS5 Pro. The total difference is still 2:1, which is completely fine for a massive multiplatform business like Xbox that makes billions yearly on Xbox consoles

@HonestHick yeah @themightyant is right there, a CPU upgrade for the ps5 pro wouldn't be a huge benefit, especially for TV gaming which is typically 60 or 30fps for AAA games. PSSR still has a lot of time to get better though, it's all about starting at a lower internal render and having a great final image. The series S memory point you bring up though, that's the major bottleneck really and why we're seeing optimisation struggles from Devs from time to time.

Be cool if the Prime thing was basically that PC under a TV dream that Valve had. I absolutely love my series x, but a more powerful Xbox just doesn't seem like it would have mass appeal 🥺

@themightyant it;s true that most games are GPU bound but the bottle to the GPU is still the CPU. Get a 4090 graphics care and slap in a mid CPU and watch the performance crumble. The next Xbox should be nice upgrades all the way around is my point and i welcome them all. The handheld should be cool, of course it will be scaled down software but on a smaller screen it should be nice looking. I’d welcome that. I’m not sure about the name Prime, i sort of like it. Not sure why haha. Maybe cause new console hardware always excites me. At any rate i think things are bright for them, Hardware will be the struggle, but from a software side they will have loads of games coming out. 2025 and 2026 is stacked and there is some to still be announced would be my guess, at least for 2026. The only game i care about is Gears of War E-Day. I will play that game for years on end! I had over 2000 hours in Gears 5 multiplayer.

@Banjo- yeah Xbox Hardware just needs a slight boost, they aren’t going to outsell Sony worldwide. That would be like Reebok all of a sudden outselling Nike. Not going to happen. But i would like to see the Xbox hardware do a tad better. Still won’t matter much as they are still going to bring games to PS and other platforms. But as long as Xbox is in the hardware game i will be on it. I love the controller. Enjoy my friends list Etc etc. also there has been a rumor for a while now that Xbox will get rid of the paywall for online gaming next gen. That would be so so nice. I really want to see the next machine knock the Ui out of the park as i am tired of looking at this one since Xbox one. We know the new controller is coming, so thats exciting. Plenty to look forward to with the new console. Sony will continue to sell well. But they aren’t doing great as a company money wise. To many more failed software titles and they will really be penny pinching us gamers.

@Coletrain a more powerful console that we can see the results will always have a draw with consumers. CPU was the missing piece in the Xbox One and PS4 and to a lesser extent still the hold back on the current models. Take GTA 6 for example, thats a heavy CPU bound game. Look at the Pro struggling still with Alan Wake 2. Sure the AI up scalers will be a nice addition to the weaker CPU’s. But i only singled out the CPU as one of my requested upgrades i will be excited for in the new consoles. Of course we will get better memory and GPU’s. I merely used that one metric as something that i think every 5-6 years starts to show its age the quickest in the consoles as they start the cycle with outdated tech there. This gen promised 60fps, the reason we aren’t seeing it as much isn’t from the GPU side it’s the CPU side more times than not. In closing i am excited for the new Prime and PS6 consoles. They will be nice upgrades and allow devs more optimization options then they currently have. Unreal Engine 5 is a monster, it wants and needs more power.

I think it's very likely is a new Xbox console which has been push up in the development cycle due to the weak sales of the series Xbox consoles. When the WiiU, which was a incredible console didn't get the sales Nintendo expected they dropped the WiiU and moved to the switch and now the switch is always at or near the top. In all likelihood the next generation console for the Xbox will be announced at the latest, the summer 2026 for the 2026 holiday season.

@HonestHick there will definitely be some boost for next gen no question, but when you look at current capabilities it's typically frame gen and upscalers doing the heavy lifting in PC gaming. I suspect that will be the bigger change, but any uptick will be appreciated. GTA is gonna be a brilliant example of your point, where 30fps just seems more likely on this gen due to the amount of concurrent animations happening at a high fidelity, but I see those UE games as outliers where the decision to push fidelity and UE5 lighting effects from the outset is the more limiting factor as opposed to brute forcing 60fps with a better CPU.

I'm with you though dude, next gen is gonna hopefully do away with this debate entirely!

@Coletrain Yeah i mean spot on, brilliant reply. I think we need the extra horsepower to take advantage of whats capable. We all know console are well optimized for and get more bang for the buck than any other hardware. But it has limitations. A new gen will fix some of these. That was my point. But you are spot on. Take into account ray tracing and other taxing effects and i think 2026 is about right. I didn’t like gen’s that went past 6 years. I think 7-8 is too long with console tech. Maybe i am being greedy but i want better performance without buying a PC so here i am wishing for newer hardware 6 years later which i still think is fair.

I called it at 18 months from now, let's see. I'll keep the XSX as they'll keep supporting cross gen exclusives for a long time. With the next Nvidia Blackwell chips coming it makes a lot of sense to get into the PC scene now with the price dropping on a lot of their older highly capable products or just buying their new GPU, it'll be future proof for a long while

@Deshalu Phil has straight said all the growth is in the PC market so think they've been pretty explicit. They'll release consoles but their games will always be on PCs and more often they'll be on any gaming system that wants their games with a sizable market. I'll keep the XSX forever, might be the last console with a disc drive they release (let's hope not)

@DonJorginho Many enough including myself will scoff at a stream only device. Like getting a Big Mac with no meat (I had actually received on an order recently).

Hybrid (like Switch) could be the mainstream going forward.

Whenever it releases I’ll def get it if only for the fact that I’ve owned every Xbox console since the OG Xbox…this new console is almost sure to be that last Xbox console so at the very least I’ll be able to have experienced every iteration of Xbox over its lifetime

@Jenkinss are GP subs dropping?

Haven’t seen anything on it anywhere?

“This is a message to my fellow autobots, you are not alone” -Michael Bay music intensifies

In all seriousness why can’t the call it the Xbox series x2? Making it very hard for the average consumer to understand which console is best. Also if there is no meaningful performance upgrade then I don’t see the point, much like the ps5 pro.

If they release it next year, and end Series S and X parity, it will burn the 50% of Xbox owners with a series S. But if games need to be made for the new Xbox, and Series X and S, it'll be a mess too.

@DoctorJohnDisco oh thank god you let us all know that riveting information.

Weird that you’re on an Xbox website commenting on an article about a console though.

Personally, @Prestige-worldwide & @Millionski , I think, when you consider the problems that Sony faced with meeting demand for the PS5, that the PS6 will be in full production for quite some time prior to being released. Therefore, I think that changing the specs within two years of release would be a tall order. I'm not saying that it would be impossible, but very difficult and potentially expensive as they would likely have already struck the deals to obtain the different tech to fit into the PS6 (in fact I'm fairly sure that some of those deals will already have been done, and that we may have heard of them, but I may be thinking of the Switch 2 with this), and thus revising it at short notice would not come cheap. Plus, it's not as simple as saying replace this part, or that, because everything has to work together just right, or you risk unexpected problems arising once the console is out in the wide-world. The console needs to have been fully tested to ensure that it doesn't release with an issue like the 360 did with its Red Ring of Death...

@OldGamer999 @HonestHick The future of Xbox as a multiplatform ecosystem is unbeatable, because they own some of the most popular IPs, the most popular OS and they are used to making hardware, not just consoles but laptops, tablets, computers and smartphones. Consoles make the most sense for them, but won't be sold at a loss.

There will be Xbox consoles as long as there is a console market. Xbox consoles run Windows, so they are closest to the PC environment and ports. Most of the subscribers play on console. Each subscription is a monthly first-party sale. Years ago, they said they spend $1B on third-party deals and earn around $8B on Game Pass, yearly. This was before the ABK acquisition. For Microsoft, consoles are a no-brainer.

Sony, in spite of its popularity and the support of critics, has tried mobile, service games, Game Pass-style PS Plus and now PC with day-one releases, because they aren't doing that great as a business despite having twice as many consoles on the market. That only mattered in the 90s, which makes the Sega and Microsoft comparison hilarious.

Apple, Google and Amazon have tried before, but Apple "only" has 28% of the mobile market, Google refunded Stadia costumers and Luna has not set the world on fire, as far as I know.

The market is evolving and becoming more flexible and that's a good thing for players. It's not just because of the omnipresent competition, but also because of Microsoft's Play Anywhere (underrated cross-buy), Microsoft and Epic's legal battles against abusive commissions on mobile phones, all the versatile handheld PCs and even the restricting Switch, that combined the home and handheld consoles for the first time. However, Sony has been the most conservative of the three and just hobbling behind Microsoft, because they relied on their console userbase and betted their bottom dollar on it, literally, with a massive debt and still paying for AAA third-party exclusive content until very recently.

What I mean is that, despite the negativity spread across the internet, Xbox is absolutely all right!

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Yes. And remember as you take this in, they publicly stated their goal with gamepass was 100m subs.

During the FTC trial where MS was acquiring King, we learned that in 2022 gamepass had 25 million subs, and xbox gold had 11.7 million subs. Roughly 37 million total subs

In September 2023, MS renamed gold to gamepass core.

This year, Sarah Bond said that gamepass has 34 million subs. They confirmed that this includes the core tier.

Their goal was 100 million and it flatlined years ago, and now in a the most recent year and a half we know the numbers for we know it lost 8%~ of its users. It's bad.

I have no idea why my other post was removed or even remember what I said @FraserG , but these are just facts. Who am I "trolling" or "baiting" with Microsoft's publicly announced numbers? Are we not allowed to acknowledge the decay of gamepass's subscribers now?

@Banjo- Sony recently reported their highest earnings (profit) for years, which was widely reported. Where are you getting your figures that they are struggling from? Not arguing or anything man, just curious as to what drives the thought process.

Edit. Link for reference. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/08/sony-reports-73percent-jump-in-operating-profit-beating-expectations.html

My words were

they aren't doing that great as a business despite having twice as many consoles on the market

and it's not my thought process. Sony's company value is $106.90B. Sony's net debt is $239.40B adjusted for in cash-equivalents. Sony's long term debt (2024-09-30) is $175.98B (source: Macrotrends). Unlike Microsoft and Nintendo, their debt is well over their company value and is increasing every year. Sony only advertises favourable figures, like shipped hardware instead of sold, partial financial results, etc. No doubt that PS5 is selling well compared to Series X|S and Pro boosted their hardware sales last year right after selling 1.1 million fewer compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal year, but only 6.8% of the software sold was first-party in 2024 Q2 and they have fewer premium subscribers than Xbox.

Just saying this because having twice as many consoles on the market means little in the big picture. What matters the most is revenue and customer engagement. I have no doubt about the brand power and popularity of PS, although the management of their business has been erratic before and after Jim's departure, not to mention that they are not user-friendly in my experience and that they have abandoned my favourite Sony IPs.

@Kilamanjaro I agree and heard him say that, but they have yet to talk about console exclusivity versus other consoles.

Problem is people don’t realize that you need multiple consoles in the market to keep one or the other forming a monopoly. Sony has shown that they are a monopoly in the console market.

If Microsoft was a monopoly, they would be doing the same thing, you need both.

Nintendo is playing there own game in the market.

@Fiendish-Beaver I agree with you, only because it a terrible decision for Microsoft to release a new console this soon. And as we all know, Microsoft LOVES to do the absolute worst decision making for their products.

Granted, if Microsoft is going to go the Nintendo route of releasing things at their own cadence, I could see as smart move.

If they can pull it off.

These new consoles haven't even had any good games release yet, it's just been stinker after stinker.

BG3 doesn't count because it's a fluke and pillars of eternity 1, 2 and wasteland 3 are far superior games yet weren't played because most people who played BG3 don't even like isometric rpgs.

Microsoft especially got no business making a new console when they allow todd howard to release games like indiana jones which is the most boring game I have ever played and should have just been a movie instead and starfield was just a disappointment with how many features were stripped.

@Banjo- wasn't attacking you buddy, no need to be stand offish.

The link i sent clearly shows they made over both those figures you quoted in November 24, with the gaming division performing strongly.

They are selling more consoles and more subs (based on last reported figures). It's reasonable to assume that software sales are higher as well as those new users buying software.

It just seemed odd to say they are hobbling along.

'they have fewer premium subscribers than Xbox'. This is incorrect. Last gamepass subscribers reported was 34 million which, taking into account the gold members bumped, is actually a drop in gamepass users. Plus had 47 million at the last report. This whole claim about more subscriber numbers is incorrect.

I genuinely want to see xbox keep pushing consoles as competition is needed. But throwing random claims that are clearly incorrect just sounds like fanboyism when you don't need to.

I would not be shocked if they actually decide to not do another console.

@Weebleman I have not been "fanboyish" nor "offish", but your replies certainly are ill-intentioned and hostile. The source was provided because you asked for it. I said "premium" subscribers, not all PS Plus members are premium and that Game Pass figure is quite old. You are (once again) quoting me wrongly; I didn't say what you accuse me of. I don't know why you make wrong assumptions and react aggressively on a constant basis. My words were that Sony is hobbling behind Microsoft because they follow Microsoft's strategy, but are more conservative even when doing so, in a paragraph where I was talking about market evolution and flexibility. You are trying to distort what I said, as if I said that Sony is behind Microsoft in every regard, but I said exactly the opposite when specifically discussing the hardware sales and also talked about its popularity and brand power. Anyway, if you are oversensitive to comments about your favourite company and lose control, I recommend you to not visit the site or ignore me. In any case, refrain from making more personal and offensive remarks about other users such as "fanboy", "offish", "throwing random claims", etc. (just because I was polite and provided numbers and sources you requested), because this is not the first time you do so, it goes against the rules and I'd rather not have to deal with your animosity while moderation is away.

@Banjo- I havent in any way been any of those things. At no point did I remotely act aggressively or call you a liar. I highlighted that when you decline to ackowledge the information available it can appear fanboyish. I also said which you dont need to. Meaning we can discuss it politely. Hopefully the mods pick up on your tactics and accusations as its something you do quite a lot when people politely oppose what you say. Which, as you highlighted, is against the rules.

You quote premium subscribers yet xbox have not released tier numbers. The only thing we know is that the total including gold is 34 million. We don't know how many are premium tier subscribers as gamepass has 4 tiers. Neither of us can claim which 'premium' tier has most as the information simply isn't available. We can look at them as a whole though which clearly shows one has a significant amount more. All I asked was the thought process behind your comment while providing a reason why I asked. You then came back with a bit of an aggressive rant.

My whole point was simply that folks pull figures out of nowhere and then use them to throw shade at a box they don't like. Which is silly when as gamers we should want all companies at their best as that means better things for us.

Either way, maybe next time you should be open to discussion without the nonsense, accusations or childish behaviour when someone disagrees. All the best to you and yours for the new year.

Edit: I would also add its not really your place to tell me not to visit a site that discusses games and news for a console I own and enjoy.