Xbox Next-Gen Hardware Officially Confirmed, Hold On To Your Wallets

Xbox's new leadership has announced that it's working on the next generation of consoles, despite rumors to the contrary. Asha Sharma, former President of Microsoft's CoreAI division, has taken over as Microsoft Gaming CEO after Phil Spencer's retirement last week. Top on her list of priorities, she says to Windows Central, is a "return to Xbox," and that means pushing the console market forward.

"Xbox players have thousands of dollars invested, in money and time too," Sharma tells Windows Central. "I am committed to 'returning to Xbox,' and that starts with console, that starts with hardware. You will hear more about that soon, we'll have some announcements coming up."

Xbox Isn't Abandoning The Hardware Game

But the cloud isn't going anywhere

This announcement seems to dispel rumors that circulated throughout the last year suggesting Xbox was planning its exit from the console market. The signs were all there: its subscription service, Game Pass, went all-in on cloud gaming. Advertisements touted how the cloud could turn any and every smart device into an Xbox. Tons of former Xbox exclusives, even Halo, began announcing PlayStation ports.

There were all sorts of alleged leaks about the next generation of Xbox consoles. Some suggested it'd be a handheld designed mostly for cloud streaming, while others suggested it wouldn't exist at all, and Microsoft would instead focus on game publishing under the Game Pass banner.

For their part, Microsoft made it clear that they were still working on a next-gen console, but speculation ran wild as to whether they were scaling back on hardware in favor of cloud streaming.

Sharma's statements directly refute that theory, suggesting that hardware is now a top priority at Xbox. However, she's careful to hint that cloud gaming isn't going anywhere: "We also know that there are a lot of players who aren't on console or our hardware, and I want to deliver great games to them too."

Xbox's Next-Gen Hardware Will Be Unveiled Soon

Maybe too soon?

Either way, Sharma promises a reveal of Xbox's next-gen hardware "soon," although exactly how soon is up for debate. It could be within the next few months or the next two years; the point is that Microsoft is working on it, and has something almost ready to show us.

This news comes amid an uncertain console market, with RAM prices soaring and concerns of yet another chip shortage in the coming years. Rumor holds that Sony has considered delaying the PlayStation 6 due to manufacturing conditions, hoping that supply issues or massive price hikes won't hurt its next console's sales. Other rumors suggest Nintendo may have considered a price increase for the Switch 2 for the very same reason.

While an eight-year lifecycle for consoles isn't out of the ordinary, many players are already bristling at the idea of having to buy another new console just to keep up with the latest releases. Weirdly, it seems like the next generation is coming on too soon; Xbox's upcoming hardware reveal already has a lot to contend with.