Xbox Reporter Says Series X|S Successor Has Been 'Fully Approved' By Microsoft

"BUt XbOX iS LeaVIng thE ConSOle maRKEt"

Clowns who thought that Xbox is leaving the console market always make me laugh. There will always be the console for those who enjoy that experience even through cloud/PC/multiplatform is the primary focus.

@TheEstablishment Even better if Microsoft did leave the console business how much would Sony charge for a console? I think the 700 bucks for the Pro was just a taste of what would happen.

Well so much for those 2026 rumours eh? If it’s only just left ‘early pitch stage’ and only just been fully funded there’s little chance it can be ready for public consumption in such a short timeframe. Late 2026 is only 1.5 years away after all and it typically takes at least 2 years from the first engineering prototypes to a fully mass manufactured ready-for-public device. 2027 launch seems much more likely now I think, but with a late 2026 reveal I’m guessing - mirroring the XSX reveal in late 2019 and launch in 2020.

It's too soon but I guess they have no choice with sales slowing down so much. It will be interesting to see if they actually innovate rather than go the usual route of just sticking more powerful components in the box. Either way new consoles are exciting.

I’m going 2028 probably the same time as Sony. You never know maybe 2027 to get a year ahead of Sony who knows nowadays.

Will be interesting to see if they go just one console and no S and X situation.

I can never understand how PR for these companies works. They announced biggest technical leap ever over a year ago, and it has been approved just now. How would they have know?

@TheEstablishment i think everyone knew they were making one more console since they confirmed it multiple times. I think most people think this new one though will sell a fraction of what the xsx sold and then they'll bow out. But by then you are right, gamepass will be there 'console' and it'll be an app you can stream on anything anywhere.

@OldGamer999 there was a rumour last month that the PS6 SOC was ‘design complete’ (with AMD Zen 6 and UDNA architectures) and with early engineering samples scheduled to be produced for later this year. So it sounds to me like Sony are aiming for late 2027. Also sounds like Xbox are very closely aligned to this timeline from the rumour in this article. I interpret moving on from ‘early pitch stage’ to mean the SOC design has been approved and locked-in and that they’re moving on to manufacturing the engineering samples and testing for mass production.

This just means they have made a decision about the design, specs, what the box/boxes will look like they are still miles away

Late 2026 - Early 2027. If the console has been costed all the up the chain already it's shouldn't be any more than 24 months out. The console may be shown at this years game awards in December or early next year. Getting the thing costed is quite a big chunk of the 4-6 year dev time. Now that the chosen spec has been costed, they can turn towards assembly and prototyping software UI features. Build will happen about 12 months from launch with manufacturing about 6-8 months out.

@Cakefish
Yeah even in today’s different landscape with Xbox releasing games on PS, I doubt Sony would want to be a year behind Xbox in release of next generation.
Could well be same time every November as usual 🤣

@OldGamer999 yeah now that Xbox have stated they intend to compete on hardware power alone they really need to make sure they don’t get leapfrogged by PS6, so they can’t release next gen too much earlier than Sony or that’s exactly what will happen.

@themightyant i disagree, next year would be 6 year’s for the Series consoles and PS5, the PS4 and Xbox one Gen was 7 years. One year earlier i don’t think is crazy seeing as their was no Xbox One X mid gen upgrade. Plus we all know the series consoles will be supported a few years after the next box comes out. I say bring it in 2026 if they can, otherwise for sure in 2027 which would be the same life cycle as last gen.

@Cakefish Sony can’t really leap frog them cause they have already completed their SOC with AMD. So it’s locked in and ready as well. The power from next gen will likely be AI and not the SOC from AMD. Plus if other OEM’s are in fact making Xbox consoles as well then say Samsung or Alienware could easily beat the specs of both Xbox and PS6.

Next gen for Xbox will be really, really interesting. They state not only the biggest technological leap of any generation, but one that's feature-competitive - which alone is very exciting. There's a handful of people that are eager to write MS off, but they're just getting warmed up.

They've finally found an amazing release rhythm, with that many first party heavy hitters that they have to delay them to make space for others - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Throw in a powerful console that's packed with new features and cool gizmos, and they're poised to be stronger than ever.

PS have some neat features (like that screen share thing) and if MS plan on crafting a feature-competitive kit, we could be in for something very special indeed. I also don't think 2026 is out of the question.

Taking into consideration that, on Xbox at least, we no longer really have backward compatibility (and as such, generational barriers), but forwards compatibility - grouped with the fact that it will have been 6 years next year - which isn't a huge leap from the gen before it (7 years).

Honestly, despite what a few people say about MS writing their own death warrant, that's not at all going to be the case. MS are in this for the long-haul, their last 5 years of spending shows that. Next gen is going to be epic.

I'm probably done buying consoles. I have an X1X and haven't found the need to move over to the X|S. If the new Xbox offers something like full backwards compatibility with your 360+ digital library and OGX+ discs, OR access to your Steam library then I'm down. But I don't see the need right now.

@Cikajovazmaj cause they internally test hardware and AI together with cloud support, etc etc and can see the power gap. Plus AI will likely carry both Xbox and PS6 to higher levels of performance than we have ever seen in a console. I am not saying she is right without seeing it myself, but internally tho know and likely see whats cooking.

@themightyant Maybe an unpopular opinion, but given the poor hardware sales this year they most likely want to leave this gen behind as soon as possible. Probably the worst generation in terms of hardware reach/interest, in my opinion of course.

@Philly I think they'll have learnt some lessons from this gen, just like they did from the Xbox One gen, but given what they've hinted so far, I think next gen is going to be hella special.

@HonestHick
You have a good point about no Xbox mid gen refresh, it could give them a 2026 window.
As if Sony went next gen in 2026 that might be a slap in the face to PS5 Pro owners and make the PS gang a bit sore.

@Kaloudz I'd say be aware of anything higher ups promise in terms of future hardware capabilities. A lot of fuss was happening about the Velocity Architecture this gen, but a decent amount of features comprising this "architecture" (maybe a fancy marketing technique for people that don't quite comprehend every aspect of it) were not delivered in any game thus far. Still no DirectStorage or mesh shaders implementation, although there's a small chance i might be mistaken.

@Philly Oh yeah when you wipe away the corporate fluff there's always some omissions, but by and large, delivery is delivery and there's no reason to suggest (especially with what I imagine they 'believe' they have to claw back) they wont deliver in this case.

They have their ear to the ground and they hear feedback. Competing with a feature rich console that's powerful, will be smashing. I for one am excited to see what comes next. I've a feeling it's going to be truly epic.

@Kaloudz I wish I could share your excitement lol, My expectations are extremely low and thus I doubt anything of value will be delivered but I'm hoping I'll be proven wrong in due time.

@Philly We can come back and quote this when it's unveiled. Only one of us can be wrong/right lol.

Also, 2026 would be ideal for all these rumoured projects and anniversaries, wouldn't it? Was it Gears that has an anniversary next year? 2026 would be too soon for Halo, right?

Im looking forward to seeing what the first of many future xbox hardware devices will be. Exciting times ahead!

@OldGamer999 I think with the Pro being aimed at the enthusiasts they are much less likely to care about replacing it in 2/3 years. I think the bigger issue will be the larger base of casual users on both consoles who expect a device to last them longer than 6 years.

@themightyant I don’t completely disagree with you. However Covid hurt software this gen. Slower adoption rate due to the shortage of consoles also played a part in more cross gen titles i would assume. But you are right in the sense that games are taking longer and we will likely see less big hitters per console than we did in the past. We ain’t getting 3 Gears of wars like the 360 or 2 uncharted games on PS3. Just takes to long now. So i get that point but that won’t slow down the hardware teams pushing the latest innovations at price points that make sense for their brand. The name of the game on console is power to price performance and we normally see that now in 6-7 years. This would be right in line with that. Many PS4 users didn’t even pick up a PS5 cause they were still getting games. GTA6 should move some Xbox One and PS4 users over. Before they know it, the PS6 and next Xbox will be out running GTA6 way better.

@HonestHick yeah I see your point but PS6 is rumoured to have Zen 6 and UDNA. Can Microsoft really get a Zen 6/UDNA SOC out by 2026? Because if they’re only utilising Zen 5 and RDNA 4 then very likely that they’ll be leapfrogged by PS6 - in both traditional rendering as well as AI.

As for your points about other manufacturers… well true, but at that point it’s no longer a true console platform if there’s no standard hardware SOC to target, that’s just a custom pre-built PC.

What if the next console isn’t a console at all? My guess is a docking station with a handheld.. that with integrated AI and the Kojima game OD may be what we are getting and if that is the case it could be sooner than later…

2028 launch in my opinion with maybe the handheld launch in 2027 which I have zero interest in.
Forza Horizon 7 (maybe) and a new Halo game too.
3 years may seem a long way away for some but it's not really.

@themightyant it said that they would announce it next year, so to announce doesn't mean it necessarily have to launch that year, it could be December next year they announce it for launch in 2027. Considering Xbox has been out already 5 years, i know, fast. since Nov 2020... this cycle to have an upgrade is very typical. For recent owners of Series S/X will feel it's too soon. Time flies.

@Philly Alan Wake 2 uses mesh shaders. Not aware of any other game using that tech though, sadly.

So 2028/2029. I am using TES6 as the benchmark year of when I will start building my new gaming pc. Did just buy the chassis though. So it should still run anything the new console has to throw at it without a GPU upgrade.

@themightyant Did the Switch piss a lot of people off because the Wii U was only 52 months old when it released? Of course it did. And the Switch didn't even have back compat and a ton of the library was just rereleased Wii U games you had to pay full price for again. Oh it's not Mario Kart 8, it's Mario Kart 8 deluxe (lmao). Would you say the Switch was a blunder by Nintendo because it released too soon?

When something is bombing, the best action is to cut and move on.

I reckon the next Xbox console will come out quite a bit before PS6. I think this is all connected to why Microsoft is now releasing games on PS5, to raise the profile of the Xbox brand. So when their next console comes out, even PlayStation users will be thinking “actually, Xbox has been releasing lots of good games, I may consider getting the new console, especially with all those day 1 titles on Gamepass”. Microsoft are playing the long game.

@themightyant
With respect mate, it's more about what Microsoft shareholders think. 32 million is indeed nothing to sniff at, but if you're aspirations are to match the 75 million the other side have shifted, then it's still not the winner they wanted. It wasn't enough for them to keep exclusive IP's for example or get close to the 100million GP subscribers they were aiming for by 2030

I do wander if announcing plans so early and so publically is wise? If I were looking to buy a great GP console right now, I might put off thinking a new one might release so soon, and not buy.

I'm still hopeful this will be a PC console with a custom OS, rather like the Steam machine proposition. I think this approach could sell really well and have a much longer shelf life, especially if it's easily upgradable. I'd certainly be all over it!

Whatever they choose to do, I'm always excited by more games hardware and can't wait till we get more details..

I'm going to call it......stream box. Purely a streaming console

@CadErik we will see, i agree it might be a slow adoption rate outside of the hardcore players. Myself i will do my best to get it day one. I am excited to see and use Xbox os and of course the new controller. The graphics hopefully get a quick upgrade for Gears of War E-day as that will still be largely what I’ll be playing online. At least a 1000 hours haha

@Cakefish EXACTLY to both your points! The next Xbox has long been rumored to be a custom built PC with Xbox os for ease of use. Thus letting other manufacturers make hardware and of course the games are just built for PC’s. This is MS going in its own new dierction away from Sony and somewhat Nintendo and they have been doing their own thing for a long time.

Yeah i think MS and Sony both have their SOC’s locked in with AMD and likely will be the same. Sony can’t change that last min as it’s been reported work is already underway on PS6. So no time or money to change those specs much if at all. Good points made tho and yes i agree but i think it’s all going to get very interesting as Xbox and PC blend together. NOW, if and it’s a BIG IF the rumors are true of Xbox getting rid of the online pay wall is a thing as it would make sense cause it’s a PC. That is a nice selling point to Sony.

@themightyant Absolutely. I'd be one of those very annoyed over next gen that soon.

Honestly feel about 2029 should be next gen release.

@TheEstablishment "mOsT PeOpLe fEEL NEXT gEn is LaSt Xbox conSole. PLeAse at leaSt TRY be faCtuAl wHen tRyiNg bE trEnDy."

@DonkeyFantasy If I was betting, truly believe the next Xbox console will model the Nintendo Switch.

Microsoft has exceptional track record of making incredible products, then fail support them, or come late to the party when the fad of something is over.

@OldGamer999 Hopefully just one console. Series S been nothing but unnecessary disaster.

@themightyant but we aren’t having a 5 year cycle, we will be at 6 years IF it launches in 2026 which it likely could or maybe get announced and launches in early to mid 2027 ahead of PS6. At that point it’s a 6 to 6.5 year cycle which is about right. But yes sadly a lot of games can’t be made in 7 years like the PS2 and PS3 and Xbox 360 years.

I will for sure try and get the next Xbox day 1 for sure. PS6 i will wait for the Pro or until they have enough exclusives i want to play cause thats all i use my Nintendo and PS consoles for. Should be exciting and i am looking forward to seeing and hearing more on it in the near future. Also exciting is the new controller and Xbox os.

That generation will be the last one for Xbox. I guess … 🤔

It's bombing extremely hard. It's being outsold by the competition? Half of what PS5 is selling would be 37 million. It's likely 7 million less than that. And that's after years of it actually selling well, skewing this number.

but 32+ million

27-29 million, according to Take Two, as of November. Meaning they sold 6-8 million in the 17 months preceeding it.

That is very different to the Wii U which only sold around 13.5 million in a similar timeframe

You're ignoring trends, Microsoft isn't. The Series consoles came out strong for its first 2 years. They've absolutely bombed the last 2 years. It simply doesn't sell. If the brand isn't dead, it's in hospice.

lost most third party support,

Where do you think Xbox is headed? It's only been 9 quarters of complete sales meltdown. Microsoft sees it. There already were plenty of cases where people skip Xbox because the user base isn't there. Surely you've seen small devs say it's not worth publishing on Xbox if you don't get a game pass deal?

Moreover I don't think a new Xbox console will sell any better unless they do something revolutionary. Do you?

Absolutely not, which is why all rumors say they are doing something different - just Nintendo did with the Switch. The people running the show at Xbox have been terrible at what they do since 2008ish, but they're not so stupid that they're staying this course.

@themightyant, we don’t know until they reveal it

@Th3_Highlander I don’t see anybody really responding to you but I have 100% agree with you about Sony raising their prices if Microsoft wasn’t around. Plus you’re right about the $700 pro.

I don’t know how more people don’t see that it is important that Microsoft stick around with Sony and Nintendo to keep them modest.

I do think that they’re not paying fully attention about the console exclusives titles, because right now it sounds like everything‘s gonna be on Nintendo‘s console with the possibility of game pass.

If everybody on Sony and Microsoft side would see the potential benefit of releasing all titles multiplatform plus the big picture on how it would be beneficial for the consumers.

@Deshalu It seems like Microsoft are wanting you to play anywhere within their ecosystem, we're with Sony you're attached to the PlayStation even with the Portal it has to be on.

The beneficial side for the consumers is only needing to by one console if they choose to do so, the down side is do you play it on Game Pass or pay 50+ bucks for it.

I have both consoles and get both subscriptions cheap so I'm saving a fortune, I've been gaming since the 80's and the whole buy, sell and keep is behind me now.

P.s sorry for the delete I clecked on reply halfway through.

I'm happy that Xbox definitely will be making another console. That and PS6 will probably be the last consoles I buy.

why are people so adamant that consoles will go away, unless pc prices get cheaper, there still would be consoles

I don't know when the console will launch but usually the "official reveal" is in summer to be in store for the fall to get the holiday season sales.

8k 120fps games with full ray tracing better come to XSX to fulfill the promise on my box 🥹 please?

@donv2135 I personally love consoles & what they offer. That being said I don't think it makes sense for every major company to stay in the game if they are especially good on the software side

let’s not worry about it until it happens

I think the next xbox is a xbox branded standardized game pc. Which means you can play steam games. Which means you can play playstation pc games.. Holy *****.

This isn't a surprise considering the statements over the last few years. The real concern is what's next after this future console.

My biggest concern with it is the naming. I'm truly shocked how they quadrupled down on terrible naming conventions. They named the damn console after units already out...

Xbox One S, One X

Xbox Series S|X

Genius. Just please go with something else, this was a naming fumble on the tier of Wii U.

@HonestHick they’d have no choice, Game Pass PC is the only option for PC users, Game Pass Core only exists for consoles. So if Xbox ceases to be a console and is a PC instead then goodbye paying for online - and that would a reason to celebrate for sure!

@themightyant

No one knows anything about the next Xbox, it may not even be fully compatable for Ports in some way because of something like Ai built into the hardware that Sony doesn't have, resulting in an inferior version of their games on other console systems.
If the next gen Xbox is successful they won't be releasing every one of their First Party AAA games on PlayStation 5 thats for sure.

Wait at least two years, till the hype for the switch 2 has cooled down a bit. The series X isnt done yet and the handheld market is too crowded now.

@Th3_Highlander tbf the portal doesn't need to be connected to a ps5 anymore

@Deljo As they say better late than never, at least it's an improvement as it give you a choice now.

Xbox over here releasing consoles faster than they release games. I don't see any good reason why we have to wait 6+ years between Halo and Gears releases.

@HonestHick AI will absolutely be where the “power” of the next consoles comes from.

Look at the Nvidia 50 series. According to reports I have seen, they aren’t that much more powerful than 40 series. It’s all AI pulling the weight.

Other than the 12GB of RAM in my 4070 Super (which is only a problem in Indiana Jones), I am quite happy I didn’t wait around for the 50 series because even older GPUs are getting benefits of new technology (just lacking multi-frame generation).

I don’t personally care as long as the final output looks the part, but clearly AI rather than raw horsepower is the next step in gaming evolution.

It’ll be an AI-focused machine, remote AI piped to the user from Microsoft’s (potentially nuclear-powered) AI centers. It sounds like fiction, but it’s reality.

@Rog-X its diminishing returns at this point, I'm not even sure with they would bother with another xbox. There's nobody new to the hobby thinking xbox will be the place to be going forward amd everybody else knows that, as a console, xbox is dying on its arse

@stinkyx probably because both series concluded basically

@Elbow - maybe just call the next console Xbox 720. A nod back to the cool days of XB360 and gets a 7 into the name (as opposed to 6 in Sony’s next PS).

I dont share any pessimism for why next xbox will “flop” or “sell just a fraction of xbox series gen”.

I think most people who were unhappy with xbox switched last gen to ps4. Yeah some people who were there for exclusives will also go to PlayStation or maybe switch 2. PC has a strong pull too. However if you already have xbox and like it, if you are GP user, if you any other PC device (ecosystem factor) - next xbox is your way to go.

Yeah due to aggressive marketing against the console (which I find ridiculous and do not agree with MS) its likely to sell less. I would bet somethting like 70-80% of series gen, which is still a lot and enough to keep making consoles.

Basically all decisions to go for next gen are done in the middle of current gen. The announcement came when xbox sales were 25-30M which hints at 20-25M being probable bottom line of how xbox should sell in first 3-4 years to justify continuing

I would expect expect that further innovations in networking and cloud co-processing will make streaming a primary way to play games as consoles continue to become more and more expensive. The economics improve a lot for a struggling family to stream rather than buy a console. Consoles had two advantages in the past. 1) A dedicated gaming/entertainment UI, 2) Cost made consoles the go to gaming/entertainment device over PCs. With MS making every device capable of having a dedicated gaming/entertainment UI and the economics of consoles becoming more and more expensive, consoles are losing their advantages quickly.

The advantage of streaming though is becoming greater and greater. As networks get faster streaming becomes more viable. And not needing to buy a new dedicated device every 3-8 years is very attractive from a cost perspective. How does a family struggling with constant inflation justify a $600-900 console over any streaming device that can connect to the Internet? Sure there will be people that take gaming seriously and want the dedicated gear just like any other hobby/sport, but then there is the 95% of people that gaming/entertainment is just one of many hobbies they do and the less they pay for it the better.

I expect by the end of the next generation not a lot of people will care about consoles anymore. They will be seen as costly and redundant. Most people will stream games, and then the rest will buy PCs for the dedicated experience. If not next generation, the generation after. It is not a matter of if consoles will be replaced by streaming it is when.

Consoles have had a good run. But they are coming near the end of their cycle as a technology that people will want. I have gamed for decades and my preference is to play campaign/story, single player, or co-op games. Streaming is pretty much there for me to do that without having to buy dedicated console gear. I still primarily play on my console devices, but I am seriously consider whether I need to buy a next console or not.

@Jenkinss To be fair, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe did double the number of tracks and added a huge amount of new racers.

@SMJ It didnt even come close to that. Most of what you're referring to is just MK8 DLC.

DLC that wasn't available on Wii U. 48 new courses.

@Feffster As long as they don't try to triple down on confusing naming conventions, I'll take it. Just no more consoles with S/X names. Even though Xbox Prime kinda sounds silly, if that's the real name... I'll take it.

The only way that this actually works is if they only cater to the series X and their future console. They need to go ahead and stop supporting the Xbox One family and focus only on this current generation. If they make the same mistakes again by catering to an older generation it's going to still leave them in the dust. All you really need now is just the put out games for the Series X and whatever they decide to call the next generation Xbox. They also need to stay away from making the same mistake that they made with this generation which was creating a low-powered next-gen system. It's already been mentioned among gaming developers that catering to the series S is what's holding it back so they need to cut out that sub brand as well. If you have to come out with two different gaming systems give it the same exact specs as your pro version but just remove the disc drive and give it a lower hard drive and you should be good to go.

It has been a very disappointing generation. Doubt I will buy into the next Gen.

@SMJ uh, no. You're talking about later dlc.