Microsoft is preparing The big holiday season begins at the end of this year.In the midst of yesterday's excitement Official Xbox Podcast, Xbox president Sarah Bond teased news about the company's hardware and plans for the next generation of consoles. “What we're really focused on there is delivering the biggest technological leap we've ever seen in a hardware generation,” she said.
The biggest question about Microsoft's next bet isn't whether it will continue to make traditional consoles that connect to TVs. The question is whether Microsoft will follow in the footsteps of companies like Nintendo and Valve and create a portable gaming console. Games have progressed far beyond the handheld stage of just offering small, stand-alone experiences.Play everything from the Battle Royale blockbuster fortnite To a vast and open world like The Legend of Zelda: Kingdom of Tears without a complete TV setup.
Other Microsoft competitors, such as Sony, have already moved into handheld devices. In addition to efforts like the PlayStation Vita, which was discontinued in 2019, the company released PlayStation Portal last year, which lets you stream games from your PS5.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer praised his competitors' strategy. In a recent interview with The Verge, he said that Microsoft is “kind of learning from what Nintendo has been doing for years with Switch… when you look at the Steam deck and ROG.” [handheld] and me [Lenovo handheld] Legion Go, I'm a big fan of that space. He says it's not just sleep or daily life obligations that cause players to quit gaming. “Part of it is just access,” he told The Verge. “Can I access the game I want to play now?”
Even when asked directly if Microsoft would make a handheld, Spencer refuted the idea. “I'm a big fan, but I have nothing to announce.”
It's not unexpected that we'll be doubling down on traditional gaming consoles this holiday season. In September, Microsoft accidentally leaked information about its release plans, including a refresh of its mid-generation consoles and new controllers, through an unredacted document. If still accurate, the document also included information about the next generation of Xbox consoles, scheduled for 2028, as a “hybrid gaming platform” that uses the cloud.
While cloud gaming offers an attractive solution for some players who want to avoid the hassle of having a console on a shelf in their home entertainment center, Xbox executives have always been adamant that traditional consoles are important to the business. did. “When you look at our hardware, that's where you get the most flagship, original experience on Xbox,” Bond said on the podcast. “And it also represents a target for our developers. Our developers are able to build specs for the hardware, and in doing so, we ensure that the game not only runs well on our hardware, but also on every screen. We're going to invest in making sure that we have access to it, and so are the other investments that we're making.”
As Microsoft opens up its games to more platforms, it needs to make its signature hardware more appealing beyond the community loyal to the brand itself. Spencer himself might agree.Astute fans noticed that he liked the tweet. call handheld “It's inevitable.” Microsoft doesn't need to make technological leaps to make great games accessible. I just need to be able to get outside once in a while.