To be an Xbox fan in 2025 is a strange proposition. As hardware sales continue dropping, the company has embraced a multiplatform strategy, bringing its first-party titles to other platforms like PS5 and Nintendo Switch. Forza Horizon 5, Age of Mythology: Retold, and Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition are coming to the former, and based on rumors, more is on the way.
However, Microsoft hasn’t given up on new hardware. Windows Central’s Jez Corden reported hearing that next-gen Xbox console hardware has “now moved past its early pitch stages and has been fully approved and costed all the way up the chain.” Though he’s unsure of a reveal anytime soon, it reinforces Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer’s stance on the company “definitely” making more consoles.
Though a mid-gen console refresh isn’t something Spencer is interested in, earlier reports indicate that the next-gen Xbox will also have a secondary device. Unlike the Xbox Series S, it will allegedly be a handheld akin to the Steam Deck. Spencer would later note that prototypes were in the works; however, it would still be a few years before anything concrete (and that’s if it ends up releasing at all).
