The next-gen Xbox is officially confirmed to be under development and set to be “very expensive”. The confirmation has come from none other than Xbox President Sarah Bond in two separate interviews. She primarily discussed the newly launched ROG Xbox Ally gaming handhelds, but shared a few details about the next-gen Xbox console. Her statement has debunked rumors claiming Microsoft has plans to stop making new Xbox consoles after the recent Xbox Game Pass tier changes.
Next-gen Xbox Development Officially Confirmed
In a conversation with Variety, Bond revealed that the next-gen hardware is in development. The team is looking at the prototyping and designing of the next-gen console. She added that the idea behind the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds is to give gamers a choice about how they want to play games. She said that based on the demand for innovation, they will release more such products.
Here is Bond’s complete statement:
We are 100% looking at making things in the future. We have our next-gen hardware in development. We’ve been looking at prototyping, designing. We have a partnership we’ve announced with AMD around it, so that is coming. What we saw here was an opportunity to innovate in a new way and to bring gamers another choice, in addition to our next-gen hardware. We are always listening to what players and creators want. When there is demand for innovation, we’re going to build it.
Microsoft’s current vision for gamers is to offer as many choices as possible to cater to all types of audiences. The ROG Xbox Ally gaming handhelds are aimed at anyone who is looking for PC gaming on the go, is a casual gamer, or is a gaming enthusiast. Other options like consoles and PC gaming will target the “most demanding players” who want the best there is in the gaming world.
Next-gen Xbox to Deliver “Very Premium, Very High-end Curated Experience”
If you are wondering what to expect from the new hardware, Bond described the next-gen Xbox as a “very premium, very high-end curated experience” in a conversation with Mashable on YouTube. She did not go into any details, but the choice of words suggests the next-gen Xbox console will likely be a lot more expensive. The only other piece of information she shared is by saying, “You’re starting to see some of the thinking that we have in this handheld, but I don’t want to give it all away.”
This statement appears to be in line with recent rumors claiming the next-gen Xbox hardware will deliver an experience somewhere between a console and PC. Bond had previously confirmed that they would deliver “an Xbox experience not locked to a single store”. It seems like gamers will be able to access games from a variety of stores like Steam, GOG, Epic, and BattleNet. This is what’s possible on the new ROG Xbox Ally handhelds.
While these statements do make the next-gen Xbox console sound like an exciting piece of hardware worth waiting for, we would suggest you keep your hopes in check. The next-generation of consoles is still at least a couple of years away and a lot can happen and change in that time frame.
