I’d probably play Jedi Survivor or SF6 first.
I just want everyone who participated in this thread to thank me personally for willing this into existence back in 2021.
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I’ve been pondering one quote from that article:
“From a game creator standpoint,” Spencer said, “I can then go build a single version of my game that spans more hardware and reaches more customers. And I would say for players, it reduces the friction. Like, if I want to go play my console games on the go with a handheld, I don’t want to only be able to buy one brand of handheld. Right?”
In particular I’m referring to the “more hardware” and “one brand of handheld” bits. I’m assuming he’s referring to making Windows and the Xbox app be more suitable for handheld gaming devices. But it’s not impossible he’s musing about making an XboxOS that OEM partners could put on their devices, right?
Like, it’s not a completely crazy idea for Asus to release two versions of the ROG Ally 3: one that runs Windows and another that runs XboxOS.
Yes, I realize it’s probably unlikely, but I think it could be an interesting zig when others are zagging.
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Pretty sure this is just talking about GDK updates.
What exactly does he mean here?
Like one build that works across PC/Console?
Watched that video earlier, he’s definitely convincing at least to me who is very ignorant on this stuff
Well, that’s the question I was pondering. My take was that the likely answer is that he’s talking about making the PC gaming experience on handhelds be better by improving the Xbox app and Windows itself.
What supports that is that Microsoft has made some comments about that in the past, and a couple of paragraphs further up in that Polygon article it says:
“I want my Lenovo Legion Go to feel like an Xbox,” Spencer told Polygon in an interview during the annual Game Developers Conference. “I brought [the Legion Go] with me to GDC. I’m on the airplane and I have this list of everything that makes it not feel like an Xbox. Forget about the brand. More like: Are all of my games there? Do all my games show up with the save [files] that I want? I’ll tell you one [game] that doesn’t right now — it’s driving me crazy — is Fallout 76. It doesn’t have cross-save. “I want to be able to boot into the Xbox app in a full screen, but in a compact mode. And all of my social [experience] is there. Like I want it to feel like the dash of my Xbox when I turn on the television. [Except I want it] on those devices.”
That said, I was also musing that maybe he’s talking about making an entire Xbox OS that hardware makers like Asus and Lenovo could use on future handhelds. 
Interesting times ahead.
Side note: I wish editors would leave quotes alone and not try to be “helpful” by explaining things in brackets. It’s just obnoxious, and the vast majority of the time entirely unnecessary.
That makes sense but then he immediately talks about console games on the go right after that so it’s not very clear
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He is talking about both.
They’re going to improve the Windows experience on handhelds, and make a portable Xbox.
They’re not mutually exclusive.
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Sure but those would still be 2 separate skus, not a single version/sku of a game
Step aside crowd
Real deal is coming.
https://twitter.com/TweakTown/status/1778189392299106635?t=jOSWki4mpX2zR8dhvSA54g&s=19
I will call it Switch Unlocked.
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Out of interest what’s the main difference for you between a console and PC version of a game?
My experience is the console version typically has less graphical features/options and no mod support - struggling to see the advantages.
Believe it or not, last gen I was on PC. It was a good experience but I think, in general, I ended up obsessing over things that had nothing to do with the game itself: If I tweak this or that, would I get better performance? Is this a good moment to upgrade? Is this GPU brand better than this one?
With consoles I get less options, that is right, but generally I just have to think about enjoying the game.
I obvioulsy dont have nothing againsts PC versions of games, but in my post I alluded to console versions because I am currently buying multiplatform games on Series X and it would be great for Xbox console players. I would be ok with a dual console-PC Xbox, but I personally dont think it is a good business idea for Xbox, mainly because in the handheld, many people would prefer to buy in other stores vs. Xbox’s.
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I wonder if that will be primarily a windows handheld, or if it will be Linux with dual boot options for windows?
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Ah that’s fair, I think if Xbox did take the PC-Console hybrid approach it would likely have pre-defined game profiles that would download when you install/launch the game.
The profiles would deal with all the settings upon launch (for your specific device) to provide the easy console like experience but give the user flexibility to change the settings if they want to go in and fiddle with them afterwards (best of both worlds). The majority of people would likely never go into settings at all.
I’d guess they’d also have something like the SteamDeck to show how compatible it is, which will only really apply to very old titles or future titles where the hardware starts to get old. That way they could scale the compatibility score depending on what hardware you own. Again I only see this as a positive as it prolongs your hardware rather than forcing you to upgrade.
The problem is really what happens with Series X games and previous Xbox consoles. The option you describe is a good middle-ground for games Next gen.
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I assume it would prioritize native Xbox versions when available.
I doubt PC version is ever more than a fallback for when an Xbox version doesn’t exist.
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So then PC games would have to run on the Next Xbox hardware, not the other way around
Well yeah, that’s the goal. I think there are licensing hurdles with Xbox games running on PC.
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Since Phil essentially confirmed the handheld, we’re all pretty much just waiting to find out ballpark specs. Arm or not. Series S BC or not.