Microsoft is apparently already working on the next iteration of Xbox. This is according to info garnered from recently-surfaced court filings pertaining to the FTC and Microsoft’s ongoing bid to acquire Activision Blizzard King. The documentation, which can be viewed here (see page 6), refers to “Microsoft’s next generation gaming ecosystem.”
The document also mentions that the next-generation Xbox already has a code name, though it is redacted in the document. The document states that this future hardware “is part of Microsoft’s
forward-looking strategy for its console, subscription, and cloud gaming businesses.”
The mention of cloud gaming here is particularly noteworthy. As you may recall, back in the summer of 2021 Microsoft CVP of Gaming Experiences and Platforms Liz Hamren said in a press briefing,
Cloud is key to our hardware and Game Pass roadmaps. But no one should think we’re slowing down on our core console engineering. In fact, we’re accelerating it. We’re already hard at work on new hardware and platforms, some of which won’t come to light for years.
We don’t yet know anything whatsoever about the future Xbox, but it would be a fairly safe bet going off these comments that cloud streaming may be an integral part of it. Only time will tell.
Perhaps it shouldn’t come as any surprise that team Xbox is already looking toward the next round of the console war and what it will ultimately offer up to go against the PlayStation 6 and whatever Nintendo brings to the market by that point.
