Image: Xbox
We just got the Xbox Series X|S, but Microsoft is already planning for its next generation of consoles to support ‘cloud hybrid games’.
Microsoft suffered a big leak this week thanks to documents from its FTC court case making their way online, revealing its plans for the future of Xbox. In leaked presentation slides, the company revealed plans for a new generation of Xbox consoles set for release in 2028.
Here’s a leaked slide showing off Microsoft’s timeline for its Xbox consoles past, present and future:
The slide goes over various innovations each generation of Xbox consoles have introduced to the gaming ecosystem, with the current Xbox Series X|S having introduced Project xCloud, direct storage and ‘DFA/Manufacturing’. The currently unnamed next generation of Xbox consoles is then touted for a 2028 release, featuring ‘cloud hybrid games’ and an ‘immersive games and app platform’.
While we obviously don’t have all the details of the next-gen Xbox console, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the company is already planning for it well in advance. What is a surprise is that the console’s innovations seemingly include ‘cloud hybrid games’, which seems to be part of the Xbox brand moving closer towards making cloud gaming as mainstream as possible, and potentially phasing out physical media as a result.
Supporting this theory is another big Microsoft leak: the company is planning for a line-wide refresh of the Xbox Series X|S consoles next year, though it won’t come with performance upgrades. Instead, the new Xbox Series X (codenamed Brooklin) will come without a disc drive and 2TB of storage space to make up for it. It will also use up less power, have a USB-C slot in front, support faster Wi-Fi and have a cylindrical design instead of the console’s current cuboid form. The price of the console will remain unchanged at $499.
The Xbox Series S will also get an update, though much smaller in scope. Going for the same $299 price, the console (codenamed Ellewood) will retain its current design with 1TB of storage space, have faster Wi-Fi and use less power. Both consoles will launch with an updated Xbox controller, though the Series X is planned for an October 2024 release window while the Series S drops slightly earlier in August 2024.
The new controller is pretty neat too: it comes with a swappable, rechargeable battery and precision haptic feedback, VCA haptics that double as speakers, an accelerometer, and quieter sticks and buttons. The controller will launch in May 2024:
This leaked information came from an April 2022 document, so it’s likely that these release windows are inaccurate by now. Still, it’s interesting that both these updated consoles lack a disc drive, and the next generation of consoles is aiming for cloud hybrid games. We could see Xbox shift away from physical media entirely with its next-gen consoles, and considering the success of Project xCloud, it’s in a solid position to do so.
This week’s Xbox leak also revealed the existence of several unannounced Bethesda games, including Dishonored 3 and a Fallout 3 remaster.