The next-generation Xbox console will essentially be a gaming “PC in a TV friendly shell” according to a noted insider.
Potentially coming as soon as 2027, the next console could stray from the traditional console format for the first time in the series long and illustrious history.
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When it comes to the externals, those enjoying the best Xbox games might not notice the difference, but by altering the architecture to make it into a PC-like gaming device running on Windows could have several advantages for Microsoft.
That’s according to Windows Central’s Jez Corden who recently appeared on the Xbox Two podcast (via The Gamer) to also suggest the machine won’t arrive in 2026 as had previously been mooted.
He says because games could be built towards target specs, it means developers wouldn’t need a development kit version of the console, which traditionally happens in the year or so leading up to launch.
It’d effectively enable gamers to diverge very little from PC versions of games, simplifying the development process massively.
Given Corden says that devs have yet to hear from Microsoft about possible dev kits, it gives more credence to the possibility the next Xbox may be more PC-like than previous generations.
“The idea that developers have already gotten the next-gen Xbox’s ‘devkit’, that’s just not accurate,” says Corden “And also, the next Xbox is Windows based, most people assume.”
“The whole idea of the next Xbox is that it’s gonna be a PC in essence but with a TV friendly shell that also has a specific set of specs in mind, so developers will be building for Windows PC in a way but in such a way that they know exactly what the specs will be, so they can optimise exactly for it.”
A sensible approach?
Given the actual Xbox hardware itself is down the list of Microsoft’s priorities when it comes to providing access to the best Xbox games, streamlining the development to make it more like a PC might actually make more sense. It’s a change most people porbably wouldn’t recognise and skipping the devkit stage could save time and make life easier for developers building for a known set of specs rather than one specific machine.
