Microsoft reveals it is already developing new Xbox consoles, ‘with some not expected for years to come’
Microsoft made a number of announcements today regarding the cloud – but it also emphasized its commitment to console manufacturing.
Liz Hamren, CVP of Gaming Experiences & Platforms, stated that Microsoft is already working on new hardware, “some of which will not be revealed for several years.”
In a video briefing shown to the press this week, Hamren said, “Cloud is crucial to our hardware and Game Pass roadmaps, but nobody should think we are slowing down on our core console engineering. In fact, we are accelerating it.”
“We are already hard at work on new hardware and platforms, some of which will not be revealed for several years. However, while we are building for the future, we are also focused on extending the Xbox experience to more devices today to reach more people.”
With the current generation of consoles having been launched only half a year ago (the Xbox Series X and S and the PlayStation 5 in November last year), it will be some time before we see another generation of hardware. However, with the increased focus on streaming, some have wondered if this generation of consoles will be the last.
Hamren added, “Although we continue to expand in the PC and mobile sectors, console remains our flagship experience. We aim to provide the most powerful and capable consoles in the world, enabling our players to enjoy amazing games for years to come, including gameplay that we cannot even envision yet.”
Microsoft released the Xbox Series X and S in November 2020.
Xbox consoles will be around for some time yet. However, it is clear that Microsoft’s major push is to expand Xbox beyond the traditional console audience – and it sees cloud gaming as the solution.
During the same video briefing, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said, “In recent times, if you couldn’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars on a console or potentially thousands of dollars on a high-end gaming PC, you simply couldn’t participate in the global gaming community to a significant extent.”
The cloud will allow us to completely eliminate these barriers to entry worldwide. Console and PCs will, of course, still have a place. In fact, there will always be. However, through the cloud, we will be able to provide a robust gaming experience to anyone with an internet connection, even on the least powerful and least expensive devices, and on devices that people already own.
“With cloud gaming, players can fully participate in the same Xbox experience as those on local hardware. And we couldn’t do that if we weren’t part of Microsoft.”
Revenue from Xbox content and services is “growing strongly,” according to Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart, but “if this number is to continue to grow, we need to expand our audience beyond consoles, to new demographics and geographies that we have not yet reached, and provide meaningful value for that audience to choose to spend their money with us”
