Next-Gen Xbox Due in 2028, But Updated Series X Coming Next Year

The following era of Microsoft’s Xbox console is probably 5 years away—however new variations of the present Xbox Sequence X and S consoles will apparently be launched in 2024.

That is in line with paperwork revealed within the FTC’s case in opposition to Microsoft over its deliberate acquisition of recreation writer Activision. The paperwork had been apparently not supposed for launch with out redactions, however finally made it to public view in full.

Microsoft’s imaginative and prescient for its next-generation console, per paperwork posted within the case, is to create a platform that merges “the mixed energy of the shopper and cloud” to supply gameplay efficiency that goes “past the capabilities of the shopper {hardware} alone.”

Such a platform gained’t be accessible till 2028, nonetheless, in line with a Microsoft graphic from a “Roadmap to 2030” deck that exhibits the corporate’s timeline of earlier and future console releases. The main focus for the unnamed next-generation Xbox console is to supply cloud-hybrid gaming help.

The following console can also supply broader utility past simply video video games. Microsoft has dubbed it an “immersive recreation and app platform.” It’s attainable that Microsoft may very well be positioning the subsequent Xbox as a console competitor to the Apple TV or the upcoming Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional.

Contemplating that current-gen consoles already supply apps like YouTube and Netflix, as do many fashionable sensible TVs, it stays to be seen what precisely the 2028 console will supply to followers that they haven’t seen earlier than on the app entrance. Maybe cloud processing will change the sport, as Microsoft predicts that the “cloud-first” market will proceed to develop, in line with a picture shared within the submitting.

Within the extra quick future, players have a brand new Xbox Sequence X version, codenamed “Brooklin,” to sit up for with a cylindrical design and no disc slot. The revised Xbox console will reportedly value $499 and include a brand new controller design. The Brooklin, which visually resembles a Sonos speaker, guarantees players a extra energy-efficient gadget with a USB-C port on the entrance, 2TB of inner storage, and an upgraded Wi-Fi connection.

The Xbox Sequence S can also be getting a refresh with the “Ellewood” replace, which could have the identical look as the present Sequence S and value $299. The Ellewood will probably be a extra energy-efficient mannequin than its predecessor and supply quicker Wi-Fi connectivity plus 1TB of space for storing, in line with Microsoft’s leaked paperwork. 

Per the paperwork, Microsoft plans to launch the Brooklin and Ellewood console renditions in October and August 2024, respectively. It’s additionally value noting that these codenames are seemingly placeholders and should change previous to launch.

The brand new editions of the Sequence X and S will include the brand new “Sebile” controller, which gives a duotone black and white aesthetic, modular thumbsticks, quieter buttons, a chargeable battery, and haptics that may additionally work as audio system. 

Total, the promised upgrades for the Xbox and its controller aren’t main—they’re extra like minor upgrades that make a handful of quality-of-life and sustainability enhancements to the latest-gen consoles. For extra dramatic upgrades, Xbox followers must wait till 2028.