The next generation of Xbox hardware will play your “entire Xbox console library,” behave like a Windows PC gaming device when you want it to, and do away with pay-to-play multiplayer, according to a new report from Windows Central, citing sources. The unnamed Xbox Series X successor will reportedly feature a console-like interface, with the option to jump over to other stores, like Steam, Battle.net, and Epic Games Store, should players want a more PC-style experience.
Those details on the next-gen Xbox probably won’t be a surprise to fans who have been closely watching statements from executives like Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond — or who have played with a ROG Xbox Ally, Microsoft and Asus’ new handheld gaming computer.
In fact, Windows Central’s report says the ROG Xbox Ally and its Xbox Full Screen Experience is “essentially what the next Xbox will look like.”
Microsoft has roughly outlined some of these details already. Bond has said that next-generation Xbox consoles would run on Windows, and would not be “locked to a single store.”
“This is all about building you a gaming platform that’s always with you, so you can play the games you want across devices anywhere you want, delivering you an Xbox experience not locked to a single store or tied to one device,” Bond said in June as part of an announcement with AMD, which will provide chips for the next-gen Xbox. Bond added that the Xbox team is “working closely with the Windows team to ensure that Windows is the number one platform for gaming.”
Prior to that, Steam integration for a next-gen Xbox seemingly leaked back in March.
Bond, president of Xbox, recently described the next-gen Xbox as “going to be a very premium, very high-end curated experience,” and that we’re “starting to see some of the thinking that we have in this handheld,” referring to the ROG Xbox Ally.
Bond’s description of a “very premium, very high-end curated experience” certainly implies that next-gen Xbox hardware would be expensive. Again, that’s not a surprise, given the high price for the ROG Xbox Ally X and the increasingly high price of Xbox Series X and S hardware. But it paints a picture of a next-gen Xbox being closer to a PC, with console-like approachability. Expectations are that the next Xbox will be more expensive than the next PlayStation, as Microsoft tries to find a sweet spot between traditional console and high-end PC gaming.
Perhaps the most interesting revelation out of Windows Central’s report — albeit somewhat obvious — is dropping the paywall for online gaming on the next Xbox. Microsoft’s Xbox Live Gold subscription requirement for internet gameplay was a major revenue generator for the company, a feature that has since been bundled into Xbox Game Pass. But if Microsoft is courting a more PC-like experience, where multiplayer doesn’t cost consumers an extra fee, charging for that access on the next generation makes little sense. It also gives Microsoft a new selling point that might make a “very premium” hardware price go down a little easier.
Microsoft says it’s in the process of ramping up its next-gen Xbox. Bond recently told Variety, “We have our next-gen hardware in development. We’ve been looking at prototyping, [and] designing.” She added, “We are always listening to what players and creators want. When there is demand for innovation, we’re going to build it.”
