P = Portable

Okay folks, so we know Papa Phil has gotten all on board the Steam Deck hype train. In addition to steam games, you can also play xbox such as through the Gamepass subscription. This got me thinking: Is Microsoft waiting to see how successful the Deck is and potentially going to follow a similar path?

So, I'd like us to discuss the likelihood of this happening as well as what it could look like. Here are some ideas I have below:

1) Series P is sold at a premium ($500+), but comes with a free Gamepass. They make their profit off the hardware and make software with such intense leaps three years later that you pretty much have to buy the new hardware to play the games. Instead of buying any software, you spend $500 every 3 years with unlimited access to Xbox Gamepass games (both PC and console libraries).

2) Series P is free on delivery, with a subscription plan built in that includes Gamepass that you pay every month ($15 a month gamepass + $10 a month console for a 5 year console cycle = $25 a month).

2a) Idea 2, except the monthly payment is little more (+$5, so $30 a month) because in addition to those two things you also get a brand new model every 3 years they are released with updated hardware.

I included these subscription models because Microsoft has, through Office 365 and the Gamepass, pushed the subscription model heavily and, based on their profits it seems to be working. I would find option 1 or 2a to be most appealing to me. What do you think? If someone has another interesting option, include below and I will reference it in the OP and credit you.

I don't like to buy hardware attached to any form of subscription, I avoid with smartphones and will surely avoid if MS release it too

I do prefer buying hardware and then choosing when subscribe for software and when stop subscription. I have zero interest for MS games, once I feel third parties no longer offers value I will surely resell, or just give away to friends/family. If I'm somewhat tied into a service I no longer have this freedom as I would be paying for years of a service I don't want to use anymore


If they just release a portable for a reasonable price like Steam Deck then I will buy it and subscribe to GP when:

a) There is enough software to play
b) I have time to play them

The beauty about subscription services is you don't need to pay every month, that's what I do with series/movie stream services and that's what I want to do with GP

I think $500 every 3 years for a portable gamepass machine would be a pretty no thanks for me. If it's a $500 portable PC with all the power of desktop windows and you can install Steam on it and etc with the added benefit of getting Gamepass for 3 years, I think that would be amazing as that would be a better deal than the Steam Deck. But if all you are getting is the Xbox/Gamepass library and on top, you have to pay another $500 after 3 years, I think it's gonna flop.

With Gamepass on phones and Deck, it's redundant.

Tying hardware, especially gaming hardware, to a subscription is a crappy idea to me. The ownership issue of games and online requirements has been bad enough from the PS4 and Xbox One to the present. This would be even worse.

You shouldn't have to pay for GamePass to play games or use a piece of hardware.

Microsoft seems content with their cloud services on phones and computers. A Steam Deck made by Microsoft doesn't seem like a good idea.

I'm all for it, even if I never buy it.

The more competition and hardware innovation the better for us all.

I'm not saying MS attempt would end the same. Just saying this idea has been tried before with the Gizmondo. I dislike the idea because then you end up with a brick in a few years. Taking away ownership and preservation is a problem.

I doubt well ever see the second or third options being adopted as a pricing model by any of the console manufacturers as the only pricing model in the near future. Yes, Microsoft already offers Series X and S as part of their All Access program. But it is only an option and you can still buy it outright. Not to mention that this financing program has a very limited presence only in US and Canada, if I'm not mistaken.
Now to the first point and the whole concept of the Xbox portable. Why 500$? I think it is possible that if it happens it may be cheaper than 500$. Highly doubt anyone would sell a 500$ portable. Because as it stands, 500$ is a price tag for premium "4K 120 FPS" hardware. Can't go with the same price tag for a portable which will run games worse than so called "big" consoles. Don't really see such a portable being more expensive than 400$.
As for Xbox portable itself, it isn't happening for two reasons. First and the most important one - Microsoft said that they don't see themselves in the market to sell hardware. It isn't their goal or interest in gaming business. I swear they wouldn't have released Series X and S if they had a way to just move their 50m+ Xbox One user base to the cloud or PC. IMO, they make consoles right now more out of necessity, rather than their own will. If they could, they would have been out of hardware race already. Second - what would be the hardware for this console? Steam Deck is huge and it has just 1/3 of GPU power of Series S. Considering that Series S already came out and all modern games use it as a baseline, there is no option for Microsoft to introduce a hardware that is less powerful than that. Maybe in 5 years, when it would become possible to put Series S into portable? But it would be the time for the next iteration of hardware already.
The only thing that I can potentially see on this front fro Microsoft is some cheap always connected Android portable with xCloud app on it. Just like those Chinese Android handhelds. Anything more than that? Definitely not this gen.