One way or the other it’s been simply over three years since the Xbox Sequence X launched. However right here we’re! It’s not stunning that Microsoft is already trying forward towards its fifth-generation console; this stuff take a very long time to develop. However the firm formally acknowledged improvement on Thursday in its Official Xbox Podcast, the place Xbox president Sarah Bond said Microsoft is concentrating on “the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation, which makes it better for players and better for creators and the visions they’re building.”
She continued: “We’re also invested in the next-generation roadmap.” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer also spoke to The Verge in an interview revealed alongside the podcast, the place he teased the “unique aspects” of future Xbox hardware.
“I’m very proud of the work that the hardware team is doing, not only for this year but also into the future,” Spencer mentioned. “[We’re] really thinking about creating hardware that sells to gamers because of the unique aspects of the hardware. It’s kind of an unleashing of the creative capability of our hardware team that I’m really excited about.”
Microsoft bumped up the timing on a sequence of bulletins after stories and rumors got here out about the way forward for Xbox exclusivity and consoles. With little data accessible, the public began speculating, and ultimately, some discourse landed in a spot the place individuals thought Microsoft may cease making hardware altogether. Microsoft Gaming is the firm’s third largest enterprise because of the Activision Blizzard merger, per its recent financial reports, but it surely’s effectively behind Microsoft’s server and workplace divisions, each of which embrace cloud companies. Console hardware is simply part of Microsoft’s gaming technique, and it’ll nonetheless clearly be an essential a part of the model.
However nonetheless, the cyclone that was final week’s discourse received large enough that Complicated wrote an article speculating whether or not Xbox was shutting down completely.
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft didn’t share the rest on Xbox’s fifth-generation console, but it surely did tease a hardware announcement coming “this holiday.” It’ll be a part of what Microsoft referred to as its “robust and innovative multi-year hardware roadmap.”
We have now an thought of what’s to return as a result of again in 2023, Microsoft leaked its personal confidential paperwork associated to its Federal Commerce Fee case. A type of paperwork, a presentation referred to as “Roadmap to 2030,” outlined Microsoft’s hardware lineup for 2024. The paperwork had been older however outlined refreshes of the Xbox Sequence X and Xbox Sequence S — the most dramatic of which was the disc-less Xbox Sequence X. These paperwork additionally included specs for a brand new Xbox controller.
What’s nonetheless lacking from the image is an Xbox handheld, which has been rumored for a bit. Spencer informed The Verge he’s a giant fan of handhelds, however that there’s nothing to announce.
