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It's been quite a week for Xbox fans. Rumours about games like Starfield, Hellblade 2, Gears of War and even more going to other platforms like PlayStation 5 certainly did not sit well with the majority of the community, who are fearful that Xbox might leave the console business for good.
Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer tried to ease those fears by tweeting that Xbox "are listening and hear" the concerns of the fans and will reveal more details next week in a "business update". It's not quite the wording that Xbox fans wanted to hear but I guess it's still better than dead silence.
Anyway, in the sea of these negative rumours, we also have some exciting details coming from Xbox community member Magg who allegedly has insight into Xbox's plans for the future.
Magg revealed that Xbox are still pretty much planning to release a next-gen console. The target release window is currently 2026 but obviously, plans can change and nothing is yet set in stone.
In addition, the next-gen Xbox will reportedly have two SKUs. One is a traditional high-end console akin to the Xbox Series X, while the second one is a bit more exciting. According to Magg, the second device will be a Switch-like dockable handheld.
Unfortunately, he did not delve into details so that's pretty much the only info we have regarding these products. Reliable Xbox journalist Jez Corden recently revealed that Microsoft greenlit a bunch of Xbox hardware, implying that they have no plans to leave the console space anytime soon.
Phil Spencer previously stated that the Xbox console is at the heart of everything they do and will be moving forward. However, Phil Spencer also said the Bethesda acquisition is about delivering great exclusive games for Xbox fans and by the looks of it, that won't be true for much longer.
Now, I'm not saying that you should not trust Spencer and co, just try to take everything with a dose of skepticism as Microsoft is a very complicated corporation that likes money over anything else.
As for the Xbox consoles, I have to say that the prospect of having a Game Pass handheld sounds incredibly appealing to me. It would be one of those "instant buy" moments but I'll try to not get too excited until this is officially confirmed by Xbox.
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- Article updated to add a correct timestamp.
