Microsoft has confirmed that a next-generation Xbox console is currently in development in partnership with chipmaker AMD. The announcement was made by Xbox president Sarah Bond in a short video posted to YouTube (and also on the Xbox account on X).
In the video, Bond promised that Microsoft would deliver "an Xbox experience not locked to a single store or tied to one device."
The short teaser provides a glimpse of the future of Xbox gaming beyond just consoles. As the company has promised in recent months, the goal is that "anything" can be an Xbox.
To start, Bond stated that Microsoft and AMD are collaborating in a "strategic multi-year partnership" that involves the two companies developing a silicon for use "across a portfolio of devices — including our next-generation Xbox consoles in your living room and in your hands." The companies will also work on improving Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Gaming anywhere
Of course, the thrust of Xbox going forward is that the Xbox platform itself won't be tied to consoles like the Xbox Series X or the Xbox Series S.
"This is all about building you a gaming platform that’s always with you, so you can play the games you want across devices anywhere you want," Bond says in the video. "Delivering you an Xbox experience not locked to a single store or tied to one device."
She added that the Xbox team will be working closely with the Windows team to make sure that "Windows is the number one platform for gaming."
This all comes a little more than week after the announcement of two Asus ROG Xbox Ally handheld devices that are supposed to launch later this year. Those handhelds are going to feature a custom full-screen Xbox experience including a streamlined version of Windows 11.
Outlook
The new Xbox experience will run on top of Windows but will also allow you to access other gaming stores like Steam or Epic. What we gather from Bond's announcement is that future consoles will have similar access to non-Xbox store fronts.
It seems that Microsoft finally realized that Windows just wasn't working for the best handheld gaming consoles. Of course, the software giant still wants Windows to power these devices including those made by Microsoft and third-party manufacturers.
For those worried about their game library, it sounds like Xbox will continue to offer backwards compatibility. The next consoles will be “maintaining compatibility with your existing library of Xbox games," Bond says. The Xbox Asus handhelds likely won't run any Xbox games that don't already have PC ports, but the next generation of consoles should run older games.
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