What lies ahead for Microsoft’s Xbox?
Rumors persist of a successor to the Xbox Series X/S and an upcoming handheld
Understanding Microsoft’s future strategy for the Xbox is as challenging as solving string theory– just when you think you have figured it out, something new emerges to disrupt everything and undo all progress.
Over the last couple of years, all signs from Microsoft have indicated its commitment to the cloud and its “Xbox Play Anywhere” slogan as some of its older exclusives have begun to appear even on competing consoles like the PlayStation. With Sea of Thieves launching at the end of April 2024, and Forza Horizon 5 set to launch on April 25, 2025, nearly a year later; it would be sensible for an industry watcher to claim that Microsoft has been refocusing on offering its best games to the widest playerbase possible.
However, when you start feeling certain about that observation, Microsoft’s newer actions don’t align with it. For instance, for nearly a year Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming on social media, liked several stories discussing rumors of an incoming Xbox branded gaming handheld.
As a standalone decision, the desire to compete in a form-factor where things have intensified since 2022 to challenge the Switch’s dominance makes complete sense, except for the fact that Microsoft in its marketing events has consistently championed a future where “every screen is an Xbox.”
It is important to examine this contradiction, because, if the desire to deliver a handheld that embodies the spirit of the Xbox is necessary for it to succeed and attract fans, then what are we to make of the vision where every device is an Xbox?
Similarly, in the last month rumors have emerged that Microsoft could kickstart the next console generation by launching a successor to its current Series X/S as early as 2026-27. Some gaming outlets (like Game Rant and Tech Radar) have even gone as far as to speak to those in the know who claim that developers have received “devkits” of the new console and these kits are essentially “TV friendly PCs”. If this is true, then we must again ask what makes Microsoft’s “Xboxes” better than others’ “TV friendly PCs.”
To add to this smorgasbord of inconsistencies – recent rumors also reveal that the Xbox handheld currently in the works, codenamed “Keenan,” is being developed in partnership with an unnamed OEM (think Asus, Lenovo).
The rumors also reveal a desire to unify the handheld gaming experience on Windows handhelds and to compete against Valve’s SteamOS. However, this is easier said than done – gaming on a Windows handheld is at the moment extremely challenging and sometimes takes up to an hour in the menus for players to get a game to work smoothly.
Making Windows 11 or an Xbox OS for these handhelds is daunting, let alone, the object of the grand strategy that “every screen is an Xbox.” If yes, then so is the steam deck, and it would be so much easier to make the Game Pass catalogue available to the device. But then getting these Windows games to work for Linux is challenging too, I see Microsoft painting itself into a corner with eye-catching promises like these.
With so many challenges looming, the question then is, what really can Microsoft do?
For starters, it can make its Xboxes, reference devices like the Pixels. Use them to show other OEMs its vision for gaming devices and in the process, work on its operating system. With Windows 12 supposedly in the works, this could be an opportunity to develop a specific lighter, simpler, and intuitive forked version for handhelds.
Take the time to perfect the operating system and the ability to offer multiple storefronts and then gamers are bound to notice. The only way I see “every screen is an Xbox” happening is for players to find both the efficiency of SteamOS and the variety of Windows rolled into a single interface.
There are simply no shortcuts here. If the hope is to maximise the number of players on the game pass, then a complete overhaul of the Xbox experience needs to be the first step.
