So, will Xbox have to exit hardware completely next gen? I believe that, in fact, the opposite will be true — instead of there being fewer Xbox-branded devices next gen, there will be more than ever, but they might not all be built by Microsoft itself. Below Sarah Bond is Jason Ronald, who is now known as VP of Next Gen. Jason is in charge specifically of executing the new Xbox hardware ecosystem from first party. However, there's another individual that the Xbox community rarely talks about, she who actually leads Xbox's hardware ecosystem.
Roanne Sones came to Xbox a couple of years ago. Sones is a 22-year Microsoft vet and was previously Microsoft's Windows OEM lead, responsible for developing partnerships between Microsoft and PC manufacturers like Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, and so on. I met Roanne Sones at an event in LA a couple of years ago, where Xbox's initial shoots of a multi-device future started to take shape. In the press area, Microsoft had set up all of the devices that it considers part of the Xbox ecosystem — which goes far beyond the Xbox Series X|S consoles that traditionalists consider as being the "only" Xbox.
Sones' was clearly specifically brought in to help forge Xbox's future, which increasingly looks a lot more like Valve and Steam than PlayStation and Nintendo. Next month at CES 2025, Valve with debut the first non-Valve Steam PCs, in partnership with Lenovo. Xbox's Jason Ronald will also be there, doubtless to discuss how Microsoft is working hard to improve Windows on PC gaming handhelds.
While the Xbox ecosystem arguably has better support than it ever has, third-party support could be boosted even further if it was even more closely aligned with Windows PC, which remains the far bigger platform. Microsoft is currently working towards this goal, and I have it on good authority that the development platform for the next gen Xbox ecosystem will be more Windows-like than it ever has been. Developers will be able to deploy their games to the Microsoft Store across PC and the next gen Xbox consoles more easily than ever, in theory.
Further more, it is my prediction and hope that, by making the next Xbox more Windows-like than ever, for consumers, I would hope that Xbox Play Anywhere becomes a standard requirement for publishers. If "everything is an Xbox" as Microsoft describes, then I need to be able to take my games from this Windows-ified Xbox console to my laptop PC to cloud devices to a Samsung Smart Fridge. Xbox Play Anywhere is the Xbox ecosystem's most underrated feature in that universe Microsoft is trying to develop, and right now, it's fairly limited, especially on games that never arrived in Xbox Game Pass. More developers are opting in without a Game Pass deal, though. Metaphor, Death Stranding, and Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters being a few recent examples.
Furthermore, I would hope that at least for next-gen systems, Microsoft will drop the anachronistic paywall for premium multiplayer games. It would make absolutely zero sense if I could run the Epic Store on my Xbox, and then be asked to pay for multiplayer. Dropping the pay wall for next-gen only might also encourage existing Xbox users to upgrade at a greater cadence than we've seen between the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S generation, too. If this shiny new Xbox device is a PC, then it needs to behave like one — both for consumers and developers.
...And manufacturers, for that matter. Given Roanne Sones' expertise, you'd have to assume that this Windows-like Xbox ecosystem would also lend itself to a licensing model. Manufacturers like Lenovo, ASUS, and others that are building Steam OS gaming devices, would also be able to build their own Xbox OS gaming devices. For Microsoft, this would solve their global footprint issue when it comes to distributing hardware. Microsoft is historically poor at marketing and representing its products with retailers outside of the United States. What if you could get Samsung to promote their own Xbox hardware locally in Korea? What if you could get an ASUS Xbox promoted in Taiwan? Microsoft could keep the spec recommendations tight to ensure consistency for console consumers who expect things to "just work," while also having OEMs develop devices and price points that perhaps have stronger regional appeal.
Predicting The (Actually Very Exciting) Future of Next Gen Xbox Hardware | Windows Central
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