The next Xbox could play PlayStation games and everything on the Steam Store
The next-gen Xbox console will be effectively be a Windows PC with an Xbox skin. And that could open up new worlds.
There have been a flurry of reports on the next-generation Xbox console in the last couple of weeks, which is great considering there’d previously been a lot of uncertainty over whether there’d even be one.
The latest report, which comes from Windows Central, says the next Xbox will essentially be a Windows gaming PC that can play your entire Xbox console library going back to the olden days, as well as select PlayStation titles that are available on PC and Steam. You could also run Microsoft Word if you wanted to.
For the Xbox OGs out there, the entire library of backwards compatible games all the way from the original Xbox all the way to the Xbox Series X|S would be playable. In more good news, Microsoft may also drop the Game Pass paywall for multiplayer for Xbox games. That’d make sense given the plans for compatibility with PC and Steam games where gamers could access multiplayer for free and leave the Xbox ecosystem entirely. That’s not what Microsoft wants.
Thankfully, according to the report, the console will “still feel like a traditional Xbox console,” adding that gamers can stay in the Xbox ecosystem “never touching Windows itself.” I for one will be glad of that mercy. The report says ROG Xbox Ally and its Xbox Full Screen Experience will be a good example of what gamers can expect from the next Xbox, only fitted with some insanely powerful AMD chips co-developed with Microsoft, and costing an eye-watering price point well north of £1,000/$1,000. Microsoft has already promised a “very premium, very high-end curated experience.”
We may be able to expect the next-generation Xbox as soon as 2027, according to the recent rumours.
Chris Smith
