You Will Only Need a Controller to Play Microsoft’s Future Xbox

The recent disclosure of Microsoft’s disc-less Xbox Series X is just one part of the information that has emerged from the FTC v. Microsoft case.

The documents have also shed light on Microsoft’s long-term vision for 2028, where the company envisions achieving “full convergence” between its cloud gaming platform and physical hardware, culminating in the delivery of “cloud hybrid games.”

Our vision: develop a next generation hybrid game platform capable of leveraging the combined power of the client and cloud to deliver deeper immersion and entirely new classes of game experiences.

These details are extracted from a leaked presentation titled “The Next Generation of Gaming at Microsoft,” which seems to be a comprehensive pitch document dated May 2022, centered entirely around this concept.

In this scenario, Microsoft envisions players engaging with these games through the combined capabilities of a cost-effective sub-$99 device—potentially a handheld—and its concurrent use of the xCloud platform.

Contained within the documents is a complete prospective plan for the technology, outlining a timeline that would have initiated hardware design activities in 2024, followed by the arrival of the first developer kits in 2027. The production of the initial hybrid cloud games was envisioned to occur between 2024 and 2026.

The leaked documents suggest that this proposal emerged from extensive discussions among Microsoft’s top leadership, comprising CEO Satya Nadella, Xbox head Phil Spencer, Panos Panay, the leader of Windows devices and operating systems, Kareem Choudhry, the CVP of xCloud, and other key figures.

We are building 4 types of computers: (1) cloud everything, (2) a hybrid Xbox, (3) hybrid Windows, and (4) hybrid HoloLens. We need to bring the company’s systems talent together to align on a unified vision.

Via: The Verge