With the changes in strategy made by Xbox since the beginning of this year, some players are still wondering if Xbox will continue to produce consoles while the brand releases its games on other machines such as PlayStation or Nintendo consoles.
New Xbox consoles are coming. We knew it, but it needs to be said again
- Mockup of what a smaller, all-digital Xbox Series
If you follow the news regularly on Xboxygen, you already know that Microsoft will be developing new Xbox consoles. Phil Spencer, the boss of Xbox, has been repeating the same thing for months and all his recent interviews are in the same direction.
No, Xbox is not abandoning consoles, at least not in the near future. And it's quite the opposite since the brand is well aware that it must offer as many devices as possible to attract the most potential customers, and thus reach the three billion gamers in the world. This includes consoles, PC and mobile, but ultimately all screens on which it is possible to play, including a television not connected to a console.
In February 2024, while Xbox announced the release of its first games on PS5 and Nintendo Switch, Sarah Bond, president of Xbox, spoke to confirm that new Xbox devices were going to be revealed. An announcement is also expected at the end of the year.
Other new features are coming. There are some exciting things coming in the hardware space that we'll be sharing over the holidays. We are also investing in the next generation roadmap. What we're focused on is delivering the biggest technical breakthrough ever seen in a generation of hardware, making gaming better for players and for creators and the visions they build.
If we had to reassure fans of the brand again, yes, Xbox will release new consoles. Phil Spencer recently confirmed this again to Rollingstone magazine in a very clear manner.
“We will definitely develop other consoles in the future, as well as other devices. »
There are two interesting tidbits in this statement. The first is that the boss of Xbox is talking about several consoles, in the plural. It is not yet known whether the next generation will be similar to the Xbox Series with two models of different powers, but several Xbox consoles are in development, so it is a fact.
Xbox will continue to expand
The second information is that it is also a question of “other devices” than consoles. We know that a portable Xbox is now in the pipeline, but Microsoft hasn't shared any more information at this point about other types of devices the company might create.
If it's not a console, it could be a device of the same type as the Keystone project, since abandoned by Xbox, but which was to connect to a television to play Xbox games without the need for large power. In October 2022, Phil Spencer said: “I still have the prototype…are we going to make a streaming device at some point? I think we will, but not for years. »
During his interview with Rollingstone, Phil Spencer also recalled that Xbox is no longer a simple black plastic console, but an ecosystem.
“Today, it has become more accessible. Xbox isn't just on one device, it's on your smart TV, on your PC, on your phone, and we're in the middle of that transition. »
When it comes to consoles, Phil Spencer said he likes people to buy Xbox hardware, but it's not a growing market. “Our biggest growth in Xbox players is on PC and the cloud”he declared. “The console space is not growing, across all categories. We love those customers, but in terms of continuing to expand and grow Xbox, it's about PC, it's about the cloud, and making our games more available in more places.”.
