Being an Xbox fan could be about to get a whole lot more expensive if new information surrounding the gaming giant's next generation console are anything to go by, although an equally powerful machine could arrive alongside that bumped-up price.
The notion of a 'console war' between PlayStation and Xbox has become watered down over the past few generations, as what began back in the PS2 era has faded away thanks to Sony's continued dominance.
Things were never really the same after the PlayStation 4 released – in part due to Xbox's colossal failure surrounding used games – and it's been a downward trend ever since that is capped off by major Xbox exclusives landing on the PS5 in recent years.
Many speculated that this would result in Xbox bowing out from the hardware space, especially after the recent Game Pass price hike which suggested that it might not be as successful as Microsoft would have you believe.
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Leadership figures at Xbox have since reconfirmed that the brand is sticking around though, with new information being revealed about the next-gen console that could change things forever.
As reported by IGN, following on from the release of Xbox's first-ever handheld console which some had been waiting over a decade for, Xbox president Sarah Bond has added further clarification to the makeup of the company's next big home console, which is already confirmed to be in partnership with chip manufacturer AMD.
"The next-gen console is going to be a very premium, very high-end curated experience," Bond explained in an interview with Mashable, adding that "you're starting to see some of thinking we have in this handheld [ROG Xbox Ally], but I don't want to give it all away."
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This appears to hint towards speculation that the next Xbox console will be a more open platform akin to PC, as opposed to the traditionally closed nature of games consoles in the past.
The ROG Xbox Ally, for example, allows people not just to play their games from the Microsoft Store and Game Pass, but also titles from Steam, Epic Games, and other storefronts that are available through a more pared back version of the Windows operating system.
An unfortunate downside of this otherwise positive update though is the price that this will likely command, as PC-level performance and openness is almost guaranteed to command a PC-level cost.
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Notable leaker Moore's Law Is Dead has already speculated that it will land somewhere between the $800 and $1,200 mark, making it the most expensive console ever by some considerable margin, and that could make it a difficult purchase to stomach for many gamers that are used to paying little more than $600, even if it's 'worth' it for it offers.
Xbox might not be eyeing a battle with Sony and PlayStation anymore though, as head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty has recently outlined, as per VGC, that the company's 'biggest competitor' isn't within the gaming world but "TikTok and movies" instead.