Xbox Investing in the Next-Generation of Consoles - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 15 February 2024 / 6,719 Views
Xbox in its latest business update has stated Xbox consoles will remain a flagship experience for players and they are investing in the next-generation of consoles.
"We've got more to come," said Xbox President Sarah Bond in the official Xbox podcast. "There's some exciting stuff coming out in hardware that we’re going to share this holiday.
"We're also invested in the next-generation roadmap. What we're really focused on there is delivering 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 that they’re building."
A new post on Xbox Wire stated, "Xbox players should have confidence in building your digital library in the Xbox ecosystem. We will continue to reward that with the most robust, player-friendly experiences, including backwards compatibility, cross-play, cross-save progression, convenient cloud gaming, and more.
"Xbox consoles will continue to provide a flagship experience for players; it’s where you get the best value and convenience, it’s where Game Pass provides unprecedented access to an ever-evolving library of games. To be clear: Game Pass will continue to be only available on Xbox platforms."
Xbox also makes the following promises to its players:
- The biggest games in the world will be on Xbox.
- Our games will come to Game Pass day one.
- A robust and innovative multi-year hardware roadmap
- Compatibility with your library is a priority, inclusive of cross-play, cross-save, and robust cloud features.
- Xbox will continue to help game creators find the biggest audience possible.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Xbox going third-party was.......greatly exaggerated.
i assumed this
The trouble is, they didn't really clarify anything. What we are left with is that "some" games, but not all will go third party. The announcement was anything but decisive or clear.
I know they have to keep saying "this will be the biggest technical leap ever" as part of their marketing speil, but it just feels sillier and sillier each time. We all know perception wise the leaps are getting smaller.
Which is why it technically continues to be true. They have to have technically larger leaps each time in order for the gamer to perceive that a leap has occurred.
I mean the leap IS bigger every gen (with few exceptions). It is not about how it feels to you or how you perceive it, it is about numbers and physics.
This is great.
And this places pie in the face to everyone who propagated conspiracies that Starfield was going to Playstation and Microsoft was exiting the console business.
...And this is why I always ask for people to substantiate their claims with evidence.
....but why?
MS is promoting GP heavily, so why bother with making "the most powerful" console when you don't care for hardware sales and all you want are more GP subs? There must be a more cost effective way. They should make a cheap console since the majority of consumers are cheap as well. Lower console prices are always more appealing, especially at the start.
Either way, healthy competition is always good news.
very true look what happened to cable
Is that a handheld that would be made by microsoft to rival the steam deck
Yes! Rumored to be lead by the Surface team.
Oh that makes sense. I totally should have known that there was going to be a connection there.
Largest technical leap? So the next console is going to be bigger than SNES to N64?
How can they get the sales is the big question.
Releasing a powerful machine is not enough just like what happened to the series x.
They need to release high quality first party exclusives and not release it day one on pc
The pacing has already improved. By the launch of the XS2 gen, they will probably be putting out a AAA first party game once a quarter. Maybe even 1.5 a quarter on average.
Yes they're putting out triple AAA releases but does it have quality?
Redfail
And then Starfield which missed everyone's high expectations.
Will we only expect mid games from the box?
Redfall was a game that had been put in development at Zenimax in their twilight years as an independent publisher, in the hopes that a GaaS game would save their sliding financials. Arkane was never cut out to make a GaaS game, and so when Xbox acquired Zenimax it seems like they told them to remove the GaaS elements. Only problem is that it was already so deep in development at that point that even with GaaS stuff removed it still felt like a GaaS game. Phil admitted that he should have watched that project closer and either delayed or cancelled it, but was worried about seeming overbearing to the recently acquired Zenimax employees. Arkane Austin will likely make a much better game next time when they go back to what they do best, singleplayer immersive sims, games like Dishonored and Prey.
As for Starfield, it may not have been the GOTY contender people expected, but it has sold well and still has alot of players 5 months later (especially on Xbox). I'm sure they have learned some lessons and will improve on Elder Scrolls 6.
2023 may have been rough for Xbox exclusives, but let's not forger that Xbox came in first place in Metacritic's 2021 publisher rankings, so they definitely have studios capable of strong reviews. Let's see how 2024's 1st party exclusives perform, Indiana Jones, Avowed, Hellblade 2, and anything else they have for the 2nd half of the year.
PC/Steam. Best platform to play games. Console wars are tiring. Buy your games on sale after they have been out a while, as they will actually be patched and cheaper.
i always buy from the developer app to give them more of the money, but recently I got tired of waiting for Microsoft or Epic or Apple to make a decent store and i get tired of having so many installed
I bought Mass Effect on Steam and will beat it there, and might just buy on Steam only from now on. Steam wins.
"The biggest games in the world will be on Xbox". Looks like they have some big deals with Nintendo to get Mario and Zelda on Xbox... :D
Fortnight and Roblox are examples of games that are much bigger than either of those.
Most likely referring to that Nintendo Switch ripoff they're trying to do.
Ripoff or not, I like the idea. If they can come up with a console that is not as powerful as the big one (the whatever version X) that can do what the switch does but also play those Xbox games. I'm onboard :)
And it won't prevent me to buy the Switch 2 anyway!
More like Steam Deck or ROG Ally ripoff. Handheld PC.
Your dream of Xbox leaving in 2027 is officially dead
More like actual xbox gaming like device that is not cloud like
The Nintendo Switch was just an evolution of the ideas behind the Sega Genesis Nomad*. So is it not fair game to rip off a rip-off? :)
The Nomad was a handheld, with a controller port for a second player, and with the ability to be docked to a TV. The Switch was over 20 years more advanced, but the concepts were already there in a commercial product way back in 1995.
Next Xbox needs to make the PS6 look at least a gen behind.
Yeah, whether Xbox fans want to admit it or not, losing the generation where people built up their digital libraries was probably the most devastating for Xbox. Now, it's not so much "this platform has this exclusive" but it's rather what platform is your friends and digital libraries at. Mainstays like CoD, Fortnite, etc. rule all the charts on every platform, so Xbox is doing everything they can to continue to compete in ways to where it's not a direct competition with Sony. Because they've already lost that one.
SNES/Super Famicom and PS4 are the only times I can think of the best spec console winning the generation. And even then, SNES barely counts as being the best specs. Enthusiast devices like the expensive Neo Geo had arcade-quality graphics, and the Sega CD and 32X add-ons were better in some notable ways. And in regard to PS4, that's only when comparing it to the Xbox One VCR & Xbox One S. Xbox One X was superior to even the PS4 Pro in specs.
PS3 on paper had some advantages to Xbox 360 (Blu-ray discs, the theoretical potential of the Cell processor), but was more or less equal overall and had worse memory (it wasn't unified). PS3 was beaten by Wii in sales and only outsold 360 by a few million units and decisively lost in software sales.
Chasing specs is pointless. The best to hope for is on par with some industry standards for consoles and mid-end Gaming PCs. Nintendo could make a home console that blows the Series X and PS5 out of the water, delivering pretty close to what the PS6 will probably be like (or even a little above PS5). What would be the point? Nintendo is not used to making games with that powerful of hardware and will either take forever to release software or have games that are more in line with PS4 anyway.
I don't see an expensive Xbox that is over a generational leap from the Series X as a successful device. At that point, just invest in a Gaming PC.
Nope. There has never been a time where the most powerful console won any generation, be it home or portables. Neo Geo AES was the most powerful 16 bit console, but didn't do much due to price. Switch totally destroyed and keeps destroying the PS4 and won the last generation ( WiiU is part of the same generation in case you are wondering ). And it will will practically surely do the same with its successor starting this year as far as the current generation is concerned.
Ah yes, Switch 8th or 9th gen debate. It's tough because it's a hybrid and launched midlife of PS4 and Xbox One. Considering it also succeeded 3DS (not just Wii U) and destroys even a New 3DS in specs, I consider it 9th. Even if it is 8th, you almost have to put Switch more in the handheld category. You wouldn't say DS won the generation with low specs against PS3 and 360 because not only is it a handheld, but it's a way different comparison.
Agree, price and games beat specs everyday of the week. Specs just come into it if the prior two are relatively equal, and aside from that for a hardcore 10% of consumers.
Yup. Xbox Series X has more TFLOPS than PS5 and a faster CPU, but is it doing any good? Nope. Few multiplats perform better on Series X and PS5 is beating it handily worldwide.
Players typically buy consoles for software and the ecosystem (whether they're in it already or it looks appealing).
