Sounds like it will force developers into creating games that scale well from low end hardware up to the high end. Might not be as big of an issue with the high end not progressing as quickly as it has in the past, at least not at console-friendly prices. Also seems like the way the industry is moving with the success of Switch and a likely Playstation handheld as well.
It will definitely have upscaling (it’ll shoukd be standard in RDNA4) and they should have a lot of data on the bottle necks from XSS and can address those (whether it’s more RAM, bandwidth, etc.). I’m sure it’ll also get a CPU that more closely matches whatever is in the next generation box as well.
Same way they’re going to deal with having Nintendo Switch 2 for the next 10 years which will likely be around PS4 specs. You’ll still see disingenuous fanboy devs being upset by it, but genuine devs will have no issues with releasing their games on more platforms for more gamers.
I also think how they deal with the same specs will be different when the target is a 7" screen. They can more comfortably go for lower resolutions & graphics settings and therefore in a way gain more power and reduce memory footprint.
I think it will probably just allow a selection of purchase options on the store page. Similar to how the Samsung TV Gaming hub lists a game then when you select it you can choose the store/cloud gaming service you want to play it on.
So basically you’d navigate the store as normal but then when it comes to purchase time you’re allowed to select Xbox, Steam, Itch, EGS, GoG and it would launch those respective apps if you chose them. That would be the most ‘console-like’ solution IMO. That’s much better than just shunting the user out to a Windows desktop.
I look forward to “Xbox” being just my game library and saves with the ability to play my games on any device I own including a next gen high end console.
I got a Z fold6 recently and while on vacation hooked up a controller to it and it was my xbox while on vacation and it was pretty awesome.
I’m glad MS is going this direction instead of digging their heals into ONLY console hardware where monthly hardware sales could tank the entire division.
Xbox is nearly immune to this since they get revenue from so many different device types.
There’s a good opportunity there. But i suggest a bit of caution, Microsoft are know to fumble the bag a bit and thinking that hastily moving things along will benefit them. It’s a 50/50 shot.
I think next year is going to be the most telling of their intentions.
I’m not sure there’s much choice this year alone Steam has recorded over 17,000 games could hit 20,000 by year’s end, The saturation level of games is just too high, then console sales are tanking and if these tariffs hit expect worse even the 65 million consoles touted by PlayStation on their website is sell in their sell through is 56 million which is 9 million less.
I just think opening more channels to gamers and not limiting them through hardware that isn’t readily available globally is a good thing.
I think it might actually be more like the Xbox app where the Game pass page gives you a list of different publishers like EA, Riot games and so on. I expect you’ll have a tab for different platforms like Steam, Epic games Gog, EA, Riot , Ubisoft, Rockstar and so on or maybe it will be more keen to having it be like on phones or the Xbox console where you can download the stores like apps.
I can’t help but think the way it works on PC now, where a push of the Xbox button brings up a small bar to select the store you want to launch, is the direction they’re headed.
If you go back a couple of years to Brad Smith’s open store policies article following the announcement to acquire ABK, it explicitly spells out they want to allow vendors to directly transact and communicate with consumers. And all of that would eventually makes its way to Xbox.
And it makes sense they would build a working consumer model on their own platform because that’s what they want to see also happen on iOS and Android.
Man, I keep looking at the ROG Ally but would rather get an Xbox branded handheld, especially if it runs my old library as well as PC games. Hopefully this gets announced sooner rather than later!
Phil Spencer has said “In the coming months, designers and engineers will focus on making the Xbox app work better on existing portable devices and partnering with hardware makers to make sure their products sync with Xbox games and experiences, he said. The Xbox app right now is good rather than great on some of these gadgets, he said.”
Microsoft’s Gaming Chief Is Still Looking for Acquisitions, Sees Future Growth
I love my ROG but find that the Xbox remote play is so good that I often just connect my controller to my Galaxy Fold 5 and remote play on it’s bigger screen.
That said, I just know I’ll instabuy an Xbox handheld.
That really is the selling point of an Xbox Handheld to be honest. If it truly is a PC under the hood then not only will it play Xbox (PC/Scalable Version) games, it will also be able to play your 20 year old Steam backlog, your Battle.Net purchases, and any games that use their own launcher (Riot Games, Tarkov, etc.).
When the Riot Games MMO comes out it will only run on Xbox and PC Handhelds. Think about how huge that will be.
For context Riot Games runs probably one of the stealth biggest games (by Revenue & CCU) ever with League of Legends. But it isn’t on Steam because they use their own launcher for all of their games. You know what it is on? Xbox App. Specifically because Microsoft has gone out of their way to make that possible by enabling sublaunchers in the Xbox App and working with publishers to make it happen. The Riot MMO will be massive and won’t be on the Steam Deck.
You bring a lot of good points here to be honest, lots of differentiators that the Steam Deck can’t match and neither a Sony handheld in the future. If MS markets it as such it might gain traction.
