Over the last couple of weeks, reports of the next Xbox started circulating online. While Microsoft has failed to compete with Sony’s PlayStation in the console wars, the brand isn’t giving up on consoles yet. Xbox as a platform is evolving, and the next console could be leading this charge as it combines PC gaming, cloud gaming, and other aspects. So here’s everything we know about the next Xbox.

When it might arrive

Most credible leaks and reporting point to a release window that could be between 2026 and 2027. Microsoft could be planning on launching the next Xbox sometime in 2027 or as early as late 2026. This new console is reportedly in the works at the moment, with rumors hinting at the upcoming Xbox hardware being in late stage development. If this is true, the expected release timeline puts Microsoft on a roughly seven year update cycle, which is in line with the previous generation.

Hardware

Under the hood, the biggest change will likely be a jump to much more powerful custom AMD silicon. Multiple sources point to an upgraded Magnus APU, which pairs Zen 6 CPU cores with RDNA 5 graphics hardware. This powerful combination might allow the next Xbox to hit 4K/120fps performance and advanced ray tracing while also enabling PC level features like AI acceleration and broader driver support.

Rumors even suggest a beefier memory subsystem (wider bus and GDDR7 in some leaks), which would let Microsoft push higher fidelity assets and better frame-rate targets. So simply put, the latest Xbox console would offer a major jump in performance over the Xbox Series X.

It’s more than just one console

Microsoft has been clear with its plans for the Xbox name. The focus isn’t on making new hardware/consoles, but also expanding cloud gaming, the Xbox Game Pass gaming library and its accessibility, and even via strategic collaborations. An example of such a partnership is with ASUS, which recently released the ROG Xbox Ally series of gaming handhelds that launched with special optimizations that made it closest to an actual portable Xbox console.

Soon, these hardware partners might also launch TV units and other Xbox Ally-like consoles, which would help bring “Windows in the living room” vision. It remains to be seen how the next Xbox fits in all of this, but it will likely arrive as a “true” Xbox experience, blending PC gaming level hardware with a TV console experience.

Software & ecosystem changes

Perhaps the most strategic shift is software openness. Microsoft has publicly signaled its next Xbox won’t be locked to a single store. Rather, games could be sold across multiple storefronts, with another focus on backward compatibility with the entire Xbox library.

Combine that with Game Pass, cloud streaming ambitions and tighter Windows integration, and the next Xbox is less a single product and more a distributed gaming ecosystem. For consumers, this could mean more choice about where to buy games and smoother cross-device play, assuming platform partners and publishers cooperate.

What this means for gamers

If the leaks and early statements are accurate, gamers should expect three practical outcomes: first, significantly higher peak performance for native console titles (4K/120 and better ray tracing); second, a broader set of Xbox-branded hardware options so you can pick the device that fits your use case; and third, a more open marketplace that might reduce friction when buying games across devices. However, these upgrades likely come at a cost, with the most immediate being a more premium price tag.

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The post Explaining the Next Xbox: PC-Hybrid Console, AMD Magnus APU, & More appeared first on Gizmochina.

Yes, Xbox competes with TikTok and other forms of social media. But the reason TikTok is winning is because Microsoft refuses to be more social and culturally open — It's no surprise Roblox and Steam are eating Xbox's lunch. Microsoft is VERY uncool.

The Outer Worlds 2 directors Brandon Adler and Matthew Singh revealed that one of the game's more interesting features wasn't planned at first.

Xbox hardware sales are, suffice it to say, in a bit of a downward spiral. This probably doesn’t come as a shock to most, but it wasn’t really put into perspective until this week, following Microsoft’s latest earnings call. Microsoft is still planning to continue putting out Xbox hardware, but the company has continued with a drastic shift in how it’s approaching the console space.

Earlier this week, a report claimed that the next-gen Xbox is actually going to be a high-end PC running on Windows with an Xbox UI layered on top. This decision may very well have been made due to how things have been going in terms of hardware sales. It’s also a continuation of the Xbox Everywhere strategy that more or less began with the rollout of Xbox cloud gaming. A feature that allows users to stream Xbox titles across various screens, including phones, smart TVs, and PCs. In other words, Xbox is not the same as it used to be. Gone are the days when, if you wanted to play Xbox games, you’d have to buy an Xbox console. With the most recent figures of the brand’s hardware sales, it’s easy to see why.

Xbox hardware sales for Q1 2026 are down by 29% year-over-year

A decrease in hardware sales by 29% is by no means a small amount. That being said, it might not be that bad if this were the first time sales had dipped. However, the declining hardware sales have been a trend for Xbox for basically the entire past year. As reported by The Verge (via Microsoft’s earnings call), hardware sales were down for Q4 2025 by 22%, while the first two quarters of 2025 each saw a dip of 29%. It’s a worrying trend that, for better or worse, has caused Microsoft to make some changes to what Xbox is and how it plans to increase revenue.

These numbers are likely at least part of Microsoft’s decision to increase the price of Xbox Series X hardware across the globe. For reference, the Xbox Series X now starts at a price of $599.99. This is for the 1TB model with no disc drive. If you want the disc drive, it’s $649.99, and the 2TB version costs $799.99. A full $50 more than Sony’s 2TB PS5 Pro. Microsoft also more recently increased the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, pushing the monthly subscription cost up to $29.99 from its previous $19.99 price tag. Everything Xbox is more expensive, and that likely isn’t changing, since the next-gen console is going to be a “very premium and high-end” experience.

The post Xbox isn't doing great in terms of hardware sales appeared first on Android Headlines.

The Call of Duty movie from Paramount and Xbox's Activision now has a director and writer, with Taylor Sheridan And Peter Berg once again teaming up.

In The Outer Worlds 2, there's a powerful unique weapon hidden on The Incognito. Even better, there's a secret to accessing it right away, and we know the trick.

Xbox gaming revenues have declined by $113 million, or 2%, due to drop in hardware sales and limited growth of gaming content and services in Q1 FY2026 over the prior year, Microsoft confirmed in its latest financial report. On Wednesday, the company reported its Q1 FY2026 earnings, confirming the Xbox hardware revenue 29% decline, which is offset in part by growth in Xbox content and services, whose $5.5 billion revenue is a 1% improvement over the "strong prior year". This revenue increase was driven by growth in Xbox Game Pass and third-party content, and partially offset by a decline in […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/xbox-revenues-see-113-million-decline-amid-hardware-sales-drop-and-limited-gaming-content-and-services-growth/

The latest financial results from Microsoft are in, with Xbox FY26 Q1 gaming content and services revenue up 1%, beating expectations.

[Update - October 30, 6:07 AM ET] The issues Microsoft's Azure cloud service experienced yesterday have been solved, and all affected services, including Xbox game downloads are now back online. Original story follows. [Original Story] Microsoft's Azure cloud service is experiencing a massive outage affecting multiple services, including Xbox game downloads and Minecraft. Microsoft confirmed the cause in an Azure status update, stating the widespread connectivity issues began around 16:00 UTC. The company attributed the trigger event to "an inadvertent configuration change" in the Azure Front Door (AFD) service. Several concurrent actions are being taken to solve the issue, but […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/microsoft-azure-outage-is-affecting-xbox-game-downloads-minecraft-and-more/

He painted a picture of a future of enterprise software where the SaaS is used for the core business workflow, and then the agents ride on top of that.

The Outer Worlds 2 standard edition is available now, but many players are unable to access it due to an Azure outage.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was featured in a live interview on TBPN (Technology Business Programming Network) discussing various topics, including the company's updated multiplatform strategy on the gaming front. Nadella pointed out that following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft is now the largest gaming publisher in terms of revenue. The goal, then, is to be everywhere the consumer is, just like with Office. The Microsoft CEO then interestingly referred to TikTok, or, to be more accurate, short-form video as a whole, as the true competitor of gaming. Remember, the biggest gaming business is the Windows business. And of course, […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/microsoft-ceo-largest-gaming-publisher-want-to-be-everywhere-competition-tiktok/

Every world premiere, update, and deep dive from the Fall 2025 ID@Xbox showcase.

In a new interview, Microsoft CEO offered some rare comments on Xbox's gaming strategy, talking up the new console and musing on the death of the Xbox exclusive.

Xbox, what on earth are you doing?

Xbox has a new rival in town, and you might be surprised to know that it’s TikTok, as well as movies, that keep the Head of Xbox Game Studios up at night. Not PlayStation, not Nintendo. A social media application available on Android and iOS, and those motion picture films that you used to flock to theaters to see, but can now more easily than ever before watch from the comfort of your own couch.

It’s likely strange hearing that a video game company isn’t considering other video game companies its competitors anymore. That’s understandable. Xbox targeting TikTok and movies as its new rivals probably feels entirely random. As random as it might feel, if PlayStation were to stop competing with other video game companies and start targeting fast food chains. On a surface level, it doesn’t make any sense. But if you dig a little deeper, you can start to see the direction that Xbox is probably taking, in addition to the reason it’s taking it.

Xbox probably sees TikTok and movies as its new rivals because it’s competing for your time

To be clear, this has always been the case. Video games are a form of entertainment, and as long as they’ve been around, they’ve had to compete for your time with any other form of entertainment. So, that’s not an entirely new aspect of things. However, things have changed quite a bit. Now more than ever, entertainment through mediums like movies and TikTok is commanding the time of everyone, from teenagers to full-blown adults.

TikTok consumption is on such a massive scale that it wouldn’t be surprising to learn if some users were avoiding all other forms of entertainment to scroll through new clips. There likely are some users out there who are like this. Microsoft and its Xbox team appear to think so, and this is likely a big reason why it considers TikTok one of its new main rivals.

This is just speculation, of course, but it’s the most reasonable assumption that can be made. TikTok, movies, and streaming video make up a huge chunk of media consumption these days. Naturally, Xbox wants users to spend time playing games as opposed to watching videos. So, it’s setting its sights on those types of services.

The Xbox, as we know it, has changed forever

The days of Xbox being the third console behemoth in the market are long gone. This console platform of the early 2000s and 2010s has transformed into something entirely different. It’s not dead per se, but it’s certainly dead in the sense that the Xbox that fans have loved for two decades isn’t the same. Not only is Microsoft now targeting social media apps as its new rival, but its Xbox consoles won’t be traditional consoles anymore. The next Xbox will reportedly be a Windows gaming PC with an Xbox UI layer on top. It’s a new age for Xbox. For better or worse, this is the path Microsoft has chosen to take.

The post Xbox's new rival is TikTok, not PlayStation or Nintendo appeared first on Android Headlines.

Rumors of the next-gen Xbox console powered by Windows, making it a full-fledged gaming PC, began floating to the surface of the news cycle earlier this month. Now, it seems that those rumors actually have weight to them. So much weight that the rumors are reportedly true.

When the rumors first popped up, we said it sounded like the next console would just be an expensive gaming PC. That’s exactly what Microsoft is going for, according to Windows Central. (It is worth noting that this report is based on “trusted sources within Microsoft.” So, Microsoft itself has not publicly announced these details). This probably comes as no surprise to some. The ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally launched on October 16, and both feature a new software experience. It’s called the Xbox Fullscreen Experience, and it’s designed to be more of a console-like user interface than Windows 11.

One of the main complaints that Windows 11 handhelds have had so far is that they don’t feel like handheld consoles, which is essentially what they are. The Xbox Fullscreen Experience takes steps to address that issue. In most ways, it does a fine job at this. All your games are accessible right from one place. This includes games across clients like the Xbox app, Steam, Ubisoft Connect, and more. The next Xbox console is following in these footsteps.

Microsoft’s next Xbox console is a Windows PC, but it will have a console-style UI

The important bit here for console fans is that the new Xbox will have a console-style UI. Similar to, or perhaps exactly like, the Xbox Fullscreen Experience for the ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally. The console experience will be layered on top of Windows, just like those handhelds. It will also boot into this experience as soon as you power it on, as opposed to booting into Windows first.

There is a major difference, though. As Windows Central reports, those who prefer this console UI can stay within it indefinitely. With no requirement to ever leave it. That means updates, game installs, etc., will all be doable from this experience. For comparison, with the ROG Xbox Ally X, if you want to update anything, it all has to be done from the Windows side of things. It’s not a great experience, all things considered. The next console is reportedly not going to have this problem. That’s a big step in the right direction if you want a console to be a console.

That being said, gamers will have the option to move to the Windows layout if they want to play games from other clients, such as Steam, or play Windows games that run in their own client and aren’t available on Xbox.

It’s still unclear what the price is going to be. However, Xbox President Sarah Bond did confirm that the next-gen Xbox will be a “very premium, very high-end, curated experience.” So, chances are the next Xbox won’t be as affordable as some people are hoping.

The post The next Xbox console is indeed a gaming PC powered by Windows appeared first on Android Headlines.

Xbox Series X

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Speaking with Halo Studios, the developers working on Halo: Campaign Evolved confirmed that the game's new prequel missions are entirely new.

Halo: Campaign Evolved marked the official confirmation of something that felt like it would never happen just a short few years ago, with Halo officially coming to PlayStation. Following that announcement, GameStop, the retailer that was initially known for selling physical video games that's now more known for turning into a glorified Pop Funko and merch store called the 'Console Wars' over. Of all entities, the White House, which would normally have more important things to post about, responded with an AI-generated image of President Trump in Spartan armor with the caption "Power to the players." GameStop's original post comes […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/gamestop-console-wars-over-halo-on-ps-white-house-trump-ai-spartan-armor/

The current generation of Xbox and PlayStation consoles is now more than five years old, making it well past the time we would start hearing about what the next generation of consoles will look like. We've seen several rumours on what the next-generation Xbox hardware will include, and on top of comments from Xbox president Sarah Bond, a picture of Xbox's next console is starting to form. Now, a new report from Windows Central seems to piece it together a bit more clearly, framing the next Microsoft console as a best of both worlds between the PC and console experience. […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/next-gen-xbox-will-reportedly-be-best-of-both-worlds-between-pc-and-console/

Xbox is still trucking along, with a partner preview event scheduled for November. Microsoft will also have a presence at The Game Awards in December, and a new Developer_Direct in January.

The new Xbox platform is said to be a "premium" experience, and now we have some details on what it'll look like.

Last week, a ResetEra user discovered that the new Gaming Copilot AI installed by Microsoft on all Windows 11 PCs (integrated directly into the Game Bar) was training itself by screenshotting every game played by the user and then sending everything back to Microsoft. Gaming Copilot is also enabled by default, so if you want to turn it off, you need to go to the Game Bar, and then to Settings and Privacy Settings, where you will find the option for Gaming Copilot to pull "Model training on text" or not. Needless to say, this discovery sparked a big controversy […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/microsoft-comments-gaming-copilot-ai-controversy/

From Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds 2 hitting Game Pass to Dragon Quest remakes, Virtua Fighter’s return, and a flood of indies, here’s every new Xbox game launching this week.

Halo: Campaign Evolved doesn't include multiplayer, and I asked the developers at Halo Studios why that's the case.

Obsidian Entertainment's latest role-playing game, The Outer Worlds 2, is here, and there's a lot to do in this new space-faring adventure. The planets you visit have bigger maps to run through, there are more weapons to use and modify, people to meet and talk to, and plenty more. But there are five things that you should absolutely do first, right when you get off your ship, the Incognito, and touch down on the planet Eden and on Paradise Island. They'll make your playthrough run a lot smoother, and start you off on the right foot. The Outer Worlds 2 […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/how-to/the-outer-worlds-2-best-starter-skills-perks-guide/

The Halo: Combat Evolved remake we've all been anticipating today, as part of the Halo WCC, has finally been announced. Halo: Campaign Evolved is a remake that Halo Studios and Xbox describe as "a faithful yet modernized remake of Halo: Combat Evolved’s campaign." It'll arrive on Xbox Series X/S, PC, and PlayStation 5 sometime in 2026. We've officially seen it all now, with all of Microsoft and Xbox's biggest first-party franchises making their way to PlayStation. It was the inevitable endpoint we all saw when Halo Studios (formerly 343 Studios) confirmed that it would be dropping the Slipspace Engine and […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/halo-remake-halo-campaign-evolved-coming-to-pc-xbox-ps5-2026/

The October 23 Borderlands 4 patch introduces undocumented performance improvements on PC, according to a new comparison video shared on YouTube. The video shared by MxBenchmarkPC highlights how the latest update for the new entry in the series by Gearbox Software introduces a roughly 10% performance improvement at both 4K and 1440p resolutions. While barely hitting 59 FPS at 4K resolution on a powerful GPU like the RTX 5080 is still a strong indication that more work is needed to improve Borderlands 4, these improvements are a step in the right direction. Besides introducing these undocumented performance improvements on PC, […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/borderlands-4-october-23-patch-performance-improvements/

Although the perception of Xbox is at an all-time low, the brand is doing better in Japan, a region that is notoriously one of the worst for Microsoft's video gaming division Speaking with Japanese publication Famitsu during the recent Beyond the Strand event celebrating Kojima Productions' 10th anniversary, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer commented on Xbox's performance in Japan. In the past year, the total playtime across the entire ecosystem has increased by around 20%. Although no exact figure has been confirmed, Spencer specified that the playtime growth is balanced between console, PC, and cloud. However, much of this total […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/xbox-doing-better-japan/

Xbox President Sarah Bond has just hinted at what the next-gen Xbox console might be, and it's looking a lot like a PC hybrid that may run Windows to support multiple storefronts. Sarah says a premium, high-end experience is in the works, which suggests a costly price tag often associated only with PCs.