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Microsoft will allow other companies to make next gen Xbox consoles claims insider-GameCentral-Entertainment – Metro
The next gen Xbox will allegedly not be a single console but a Windows-based device that other manufacturers can make their own versions of.
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Is Microsoft planning to sub-contract hardware manufacturer? (Microsoft)
The next gen Xbox will allegedly not be a single console but a Windows-based device that other manufacturers can make their own versions of.
Considering the Xbox Series X/S isn’t even four years old yet, you wouldn’t normally expect to start hearing about its replacement for at least a year or two – probably more given the pandemic meant the first two years of this generation started very slowly.
And yet by Microsoft’s own admission they are working on a next gen format, one that will allegedly involve, ‘the biggest technological leap ever in a generation.’
Given how many unsubtle hints have been dropped about portables, it seems almost certain that at least one variant will be a handheld or hybrid device but the latest insider rumour suggests it might not necessarily be made by Microsoft themselves.
Previously, there’s been some debate as to whether Microsoft would even continue to make new consoles, if it’s pursuing a more multiformat publishing approach, but they do seem to have made it clear that they are.
However, a tweet from Windows Central’s Jez Corden suggests that not only will the next Xbox have ‘a heavy Windows slant’ but that it will be a ‘reference device for manufacturers.’
Although the wording is a little vague this seems to imply that other companies will be allowed to make Xbox consoles with the same basic specifications but with additional (or less) features of their own.
This is not an entirely unknown concept in gaming, with the idea behind the failed 3DO console being that multiple different models could be manufactured by completely different companies.
Valve’s Steam Machines concept worked in a similar way, but with gaming spec PCs. Although that was also a very high profile failure.
The concept could work for Xbox though, especially if Microsoft were building the hybrid portable device themselves and leaving a more traditional under-the-TV console to other companies, or vice versa.
With sales of the Xbox Series X/S underperforming the already disappointing Xbox One, it could also help to limit the company’s potential losses if the new console doesn’t sell any better but multiformat software sales prove to be strong.
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There may even be a hint at this plan from Microsoft themselves, if their previous comments are read in this new context, as they previous said: ‘We need to be even more flexible going forward with gen 10, but also provide the ability for creators to take advantage of unique hardware capabilities.’
Multiple sources have suggested that Microsoft is targeting a 2026 release for their next generation hardware, whatever it is, so that should mean that we start getting some official details next year at the latest.
Is Microsoft’s primary plan still a hybrid portable? (Metro.co.uk)
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