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[icerock]

So, this has been circulating in a discord I'm a part of which necessarily hasn't been picked up by Xbox community. The person was on the money on Indiana Jones, and is further corroborating about Xbox multi-platform stuff but the most intriguing aspect was on the hardware bit where the poster seems to allude that next-gen Xbox consoles will be akin to partnership like 3rd party controllers whereby other manufacturers will make the hardware which can run Xbox games. It opens up a lot of possibility, such as significantly different configurations (both powerful and weak) but it will also push the cost up as 3rd party won't sell hardware at a loss.

So, what does the Gaf think? I am personally bit torn, I know Microsoft are eating a lot of loss to sell Series S/X but I always thought they would build another Xbox. This rumor also gives a different perspective on FTC leaks, whereby Xbox were aiming at some sort of ARM+Cloud hybrid for next-gen. Was this their plan all along? To have 3rd party sell different kind of consoles which can run their games, meanwhile their focus will be purely on pushing software on multiple platforms, while pushing Cloud as their proprietary hardware for next-gen Xbox.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Avengers Assemble

 

[BlackTron]

It makes sense because MS's "strategy" is not sustainable. Consoles are sold at a loss to be subsidized with games which they now announce day and date on Steam. It boggles the mind that they tried to make it work as a tactic before getting here.

 

[twilo99]

It will be a shame because the engineering team that put together the series x and s did an outstanding job on the design and the build quality is top tier for that price point.. I very much doubt an OEM can do better

 

[SmokedMeat]

3DO all over again.

 

[Schmendrick]

I`d understand MS giving up on the closed hardware ecosystem for good at this point, but I personally hope they just pull through because for us consumers direct competition is always the best.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Will they have the ability to install Steam? Or Epic Store?

Gamepass seems to only require that a game has a GTX 1050 level of ability. The games themselvs don't seem to have PC requirements listed.

 

[jroc74]

So kinda like a Steam Machine?

Good luck. Its not a bad strategy, have to do something different hardware wise to try to change things.

All I will say is its starting to look eerily similar to how the smartphone market went for them. Trying so much different stuff before finally bowing out the hardware side.

 

[Drew1440]

Valve tried with the STEAM machines and failed. I can't see this being a success.

 

[Del_X]

3rd party Xboxes...

So it's just a PC with maybe some guidance for "target specs." It's nice watching console warriors want a fight and Microsoft just being like "I'm so tired. No."

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

More flexible next generation

 

[Ozriel]

Yeah, this is implausible nonsense.
You can always tell when the ‘insiders’ try to give information at different levels of access.

A person who has access to info on MachineGames Indiana Jones also managing to have access on info on next gen plans and conversations with multiple manufacturers?
And people are gullible enough to believe that? reminds me of when people thought Colt Eastwood had sources feeding him info on Microsoft’s acquisition targets.


There’s also a term for machines with multiple specs that can play Xbox games. They’re called PCs.

Rubbish.

 

[ManaByte]

So, this has been circulating in a discord I'm a part of which necessarily hasn't been picked up by Xbox community. The person was on the money on Indiana Jones, and is further corroborating about Xbox multi-platform stuff but the most intriguing aspect was on the hardware bit where the poster seems to allude that next-gen Xbox consoles will be akin to partnership like 3rd party controllers whereby other manufacturers will make the hardware which can run Xbox games. It opens up a lot of possibility, such as significantly different configurations (both powerful and weak) but it will also push the cost up as 3rd party won't sell hardware at a loss.

Sounds like someone read the Wikipedia entry on 3DO and is hoping people don't remember that.

 

[Astray]

So not going Sega, but instead going 3DO.

Very smart strategy.

 

[dem]

I have a very hard time believing this..

 

[LakeOf9]

It's true

Feel free to not believe it though, that's the smart thing to do. but the next 2-24 months, you will see this for yourself.

 

[jroc74]

3rd party Xboxes...

So it's just a PC with maybe some guidance for "target specs." It's nice watching console warriors want a fight and Microsoft just being like "I'm so tired. No."

I mean...if this happens, and I'm reading this right.....MS would no longer be making consoles....

This would be MS going full 3rd party.

 

[GHG]

So will this "third party hardware" need to be certified and branded by Xbox? Or will it just be a free for all like it is in the PC space?

No going to lie though, an Xbox branded handheld that plays all Xbox games (and gamepass) would actually have the potential to sell well.

But the issue with this is where does the hardware go next? Who decides if and when the Series S stops being the target spec for their games? Or do they just take the PC approach?

 

[Chukhopops]

I laugh every time I see people saying Flight Sim will be multiplat.

Do you honestly think MS will sell a lot of full price MSFS games to PS5 players? Do you think it makes sense financially with the loss of a 40-year old MS license and property? Do you?

Seems like a copy paste of the same insider bullshit we had on GAF.

 

[demigod]

More flexible next generation

Is this what you heard?

 

[ByWatterson]

I mean who really knows at this point.

All we probably know for sure is that something is changing and that the console wars as we knew them are over.

 

[analog_future]

Goes completely in line with their whole "play from anywhere" mantra.

I believe it.

 

[Sethbacca]

3DO all over again.

I don’t think a lot of the modern gaming community know or even remembers that 3DO and CDi were a thing.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Limited sample of size of console makers who werent one of the big boys, but 3DO and Steam Machines did terrible.

 

[twilo99]

More flexible next generation

It will great if we can finally get 3 tiers of hardware, but the price points will suck, especially on the low end where you will
Need something like the xss to cover that $200-300 range, there is no way an OEM can pull that off and offer the same quality as the xss provides currently.

 

[LordCBH]

It would be suicide.

 

[Astray]

I have a very hard time believing this..

I don't.

If they are indeed going full-on 3rd Party publisher, then still spending tons of R&D costs on your own bespoke console is not a good idea because the two business directions cannibalize each other.

They would need to either fully discontinue the console (very risky given they still wanna keep those Gamepass revenues, and not piss off their customers more than they have already), or they need to pass on the risk to someone else, enter Acer/Lenovo/MSI/Asus, who will happily make those "Xboxes", but not without getting their full commission.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Is this what you heard?

Its what came out in the FTC case MS saying something in reply to the dual sku approach that they wanted to be even more flexible moving forward

But something that has been repeated

 

[dem]

Theres absolutely no point in having a slew of 3rd party consoles....
That's called PC.

It would be a nightmare. If that is the plan, then Phil is even more of a retard than I thought.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Why don't they just become a proper 3rd party publisher and sell controllers on the side, then?

 

[balls of snow]

Pc it is then.
Rip bespoke xbox hardware.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

It will great if we can finally get 3 tiers of hardware, but the price points will suck, especially on the low end where you will
Need something like the xss to cover that $200-300 range, there is no way an OEM can pull that off and offer the same quality as the xss provides currently.

Prices will be jacked up because if consoles right now are about breakeven-ish, no third party company is going to make a Series Y for $500 US. MS would as they can sustain it and subsidize it with software sales. So a Samsung Series Y would be $800. Unless the systems are tied to sharing digital download cuts like MS/Samsung split it 15% each or something.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

I laugh every time I see people saying Flight Sim will be multiplat.

Do you honestly think MS will sell a lot of full price MSFS games to PS5 players? Do you think it makes sense financially with the loss of a 40-year old MS license and property? Do you?

Seems like a copy paste of the same insider bullshit we had on GAF.

As if Flight Sim will be a succes on Playstation.
The Playstation installbase will largely ignore it.

 

[ResilientBanana]

I'm sticking with PC.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

I don’t think a lot of the modern gaming community know or even remembers that 3DO and CDi were a thing.

Miss mine! I had the second version of the 3DO (pop top). Super Turbo, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Twisted The Game Show! 1995! GREAT times!

 

[JohnnyFootball]

It will be a shame because the engineering team that put together the series x and s did an outstanding job on the design and the build quality is top tier for that price point.. I very much doubt an OEM can do better

That won't be the point. The point will be profit. They will likely have tiers of $500 or $1000.

Yes, I do agree. The Xbox Series X really is a remarkable piece of machinery.

The only real major knock...and it's a big one....is the lack of expandable M.2 storage.

 

[Dr_Ifto]

Will these console manufacturers have their own store to sell the games? Or receive a cut of each game sold on their console?

 

[jm89]

Yeah, this is implausible nonsense.
You can always tell when the ‘insiders’ try to give information at different levels of access.

A person who has access to info on MachineGames Indiana Jones also managing to have access on info on next gen plans and conversations with multiple manufacturers?
And people are gullible enough to believe that? reminds me of when people thought Colt Eastwood had sources feeding him info on Microsoft’s acquisition targets.


There’s also a term for machines with multiple specs that can play Xbox games. They’re called PCs.

Rubbish.

 

[SlimySnake]

So, this has been circulating in a discord I'm a part of which necessarily hasn't been picked up by Xbox community. The person was on the money on Indiana Jones, and is further corroborating about Xbox multi-platform stuff but the most intriguing aspect was on the hardware bit where the poster seems to allude that next-gen Xbox consoles will be akin to partnership like 3rd party controllers whereby other manufacturers will make the hardware which can run Xbox games. It opens up a lot of possibility, such as significantly different configurations (both powerful and weak) but it will also push the cost up as 3rd party won't sell hardware at a loss.

So, what does the Gaf think? I am personally bit torn, I know Microsoft are eating a lot of loss to sell Series S/X but I always thought they would build another Xbox. This rumor also gives a different perspective on FTC leaks, whereby Xbox were aiming at some sort of ARM+Cloud hybrid for next-gen. Was this their plan all along? To have 3rd party sell different kind of consoles which can run their games, meanwhile their focus will be purely on pushing software on multiple platforms, while pushing Cloud as their proprietary hardware for next-gen Xbox.

I like it. $500 consoles are stupid and result in low resolutions, FSR upscaling and shitty RT. I wouldnt mind buying a more powerful $1000 console as long as it doesnt have the retarded windows nonsense i have come to despise. just the other day i couldnt do copy paste in windows anymore. the fucking HDR and Dolby Atmos sounds dont automatically engage. There are bizarre shader compilations that last up to five minutes and stuttering that plagues like half of the games i play on my $2,000 pc.

No thanks. Give me a $1000 Xbox Pro with a good OS and console quality of life improvements and Im all in.

 

[balls of snow]

It's true

Feel free to not believe it though, that's the smart thing to do. but the next 2-24 months, you will see this for yourself.

Bookmarked for posterity.

 

[Heisenberg007]

icerock - I had already predicted that there won't be another traditional Xbox console and that X|S are the last ones. There's also plenty of evidence about them going multiplatform, so not surprising. But the supposed timing of the announcement certainly is interesting.

I have two questions for you if you can kindly answer them:

1. Which Discord server is this? You can DM me if you prefer to (or just ignore this question altogether)
2. How was this poster correct about Indy and other stuff? Did they share this info before reveal? It says "today" in the time stamps.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Theres absolutely no point in having a slew of 3rd party consoles....
That's called PC.

It would be a nightmare. If that is the plan, then Phil is even more of a retard than I thought.

I slightly disagree. I think there is value in having a machine that plays games only. No driver issues. No extra overhead software.

 

[Sanepar]

Well to evolve cloud tech they will need some kind of hw right? Or they will be stuck on 12tflops machines?

 

[Mr Moose]

There’s also a term for machines with multiple specs that can play Xbox games. They’re called PCs.

This rumor also gives a different perspective on FTC leaks, whereby Xbox were aiming at some sort of ARM+Cloud hybrid for next-gen.

I think adamsapple did a tread about it.

 

[twilo99]

That means they are getting rid of the Xbox engineering department.. shame. They’ll probably shift some of them to Surface but still, lots of talent will be lost.

They do have a lot of connections and history with OEMs so all of this is really not far fetched.

 

[Three]

This would mean consoles that are not subsidised and sold at a markup for profit. It's not farfetched if they feel their competitor isn't going to undercut them otherwise it just wouldn't work that well. Will be interesting to see if "$599" price tags are still an issue for the xbox crowd instead.


I can see them just basing everything on a controller input standard and only a min spec for licencing (hence why they were talking about blocking other unlicensed controllers and talking about new licencing partnerships back in November). The min spec is probably going to teeter towards handheld performance too. They're out of the console race but will still try and push their content store and subscriptions with the 3rd party hardware manufacturers getting profits.

 

[Shakka43]

Instead of going against PlayStation and Nintendo they will go against Steam... I don't see that race going any better.

As Steam OS matures the likelihood of Valve entering the Console market becomes more of a possibility and if priced right as the Steam Deck they could be a true contender.

 

[SlimySnake]

But the issue with this is where does the hardware go next? Who decides if and when the Series S stops being the target spec for their games? Or do they just take the PC approach?

It is basically a PC that will run the Xbox OS instead of windows or steam os, and games will be target profiles similar to the steam deck. All you will need to do is get yourself Xbox OS certified like how the current Steamdeck process works.

icerock - I had already predicted that there won't be another traditional Xbox console and that X|S are the last ones. There's also plenty of evidence about them going multiplatform, so not surprising. But the supposed timing of the announcement certainly is interesting.

I have two questions for you if you can kindly answer them:

1. Which Discord server is this? You can DM me if you prefer to (or just ignore this question altogether)
2. How was this poster correct about Indy and other stuff? Did they share this info before reveal? It says "today" in the time stamps.

Date in Jan 15th.

 

[Topher]

I don't buy this at all.

 

[Sanepar]

icerock - I had already predicted that there won't be another traditional Xbox console and that X|S are the last ones. There's also plenty of evidence about them going multiplatform, so not surprising. But the supposed timing of the announcement certainly is interesting.

I have two questions for you if you can kindly answer them:

1. Which Discord server is this? You can DM me if you prefer to (or just ignore this question altogether)
2. How was this poster correct about Indy and other stuff? Did they share this info before reveal? It says "today" in the time stamps.

FIrst post on the image, everything was said on January 15