Xbox President Sarah Bond was recently asked if Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox “could kind of be a gaming PC and console in one.” Her response didn’t pour cold water on the idea, kicking off a new wave of speculation that Xbox’s future lies in a new Windows hybrid gaming experience rather than in the traditional console space. It also made the upcoming hardware sound pricier than fans might be used to.
“I can tell you you’re right that the next-gen console is going to be a very premium, very high-end curated experience,” Bond told Mashable this week. “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.”
The handheld she was referring to is the ROG Xbox Ally X, a collaboration between third-party hardware maker Asus and Microsoft’s internal next-gen team which developed a modified layer of the Windows OS to boost performance and ease of use. With previous reporting suggesting the next-gen Xbox will run a version of Windows that supports competing storefronts like Steam, it certainly seems like a vision that’s a major break from Xbox’s past and more in line with the rest of Microsoft’s business (software, cloud, and AI).
The phrase “very premium, very high-end” also keeps rattling around inside my head. While we shouldn’t read too much into any one soundbite, it feels like Microsoft is laying the groundwork for new Xbox hardware that costs as much as $1,000 or potentially even more. That’s how much the ROG Xbox Ally X is, and the most premium consoles like the PlayStation 5 Pro are already pushing north of $700.
However much the next Xbox ends up costing, it doesn’t sound like this generation’s cheaper Series S model is a part of that picture. If that’s the case it’s a shame. Prior to recent price hikes, it was a very appealing experiment in affordable gaming. Coupled with pre-price-hike Game Pass, it was the cheapest way to access big-budget blockbusters without relying on cloud gaming. It would be a shame if Nintendo remains the only company competing in that space by the time the next Xbox and PS6 launch around 2027.
