In recent months, catastrophic visions of one have alternated Xbox without any more hardware division, destined to become a third party publisher, and ideas on the possible new console that could present itself as something different in terms of architecture, capacity and methods of use. Sony’s plan, from this point of view, seems clearer, with the almost certainty of the release of a PS5 Pro which will renew the platform already present on the market but without revolutionizing it, which on the other hand is not very necessary given the success that the machine is enjoying with the public, but Microsoft’s vision is much more nebulous at the moment. Considering that there doesn’t appear to be a true mid-generation refresh beyond the possible digital edition of the Xbox Series
On the other hand, the gap that is widening between the sales of PS5 and Xbox Series next generationin order to exploit some advantage in a risky but necessary move to try to recover market shares, as happened with Xbox 360. It is also possible that the next Xbox presents itself as something different from the simple linear evolution on an x86 basis that we have seen with the last two generations, and there are some clues that could suggest it: even the rumored reorganization carried out recently with the absorption of the Xbox team within Microsoft’s general hardware division could suggest a certain sharing of technologies in two areas.
ARM, laptop, AI are the possible variables
This leads to thinking about using shared solutions, such as switching to ARM platform: on the other hand, even in the famous documents leaked during the FTC trial against Microsoft for the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the idea of a future with a “dynamic” approach and the possibility of a change in the technological platform had emerged . The ARM base is an element in which Microsoft is investing heavily, in particular in the development of the idea of ”AI PCs”, i.e. devices closely linked to artificial intelligence software solutions. The latter is also a concept that often returns in the videogame sector recently, and today a statement by Sarah Bond emerged on the use of AI in videogames, destined to bring about important changes and evolutions in the panorama.
Added to all this is Phil Spencer’s extreme fascination with portable consoles, an element he has made no secret about during recent interviews. By putting all the pieces together, these could fit together into a console that could be portable thanks to a less expensive platform and supported by AI integrations. Of course, there would remain several problems to solve, first of all the backward compatibility on which Microsoft has always particularly insisted, but this element could also correspond to another rumor that has recently emerged about the creation of a team specifically focused on compatibility preservation. Is the new Xbox therefore preparing to follow a divergent path compared to PlayStation and above all compared to what Microsoft has done so far in the console sector? We’ll see, in the meantime it would already be a good confirmation that there is indeed a new Xbox on the horizon.
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