Microsoft’s “Forward Compatibility” Thinking Could Signal The End Of Console Generations

Console generations have been the business plan for many companies over the past few years. After all, the industry didn't start with the PlayStation 4, it started with the PlayStation. But Microsoft's approach to its way of making game systems could mark a change of pace for "console generations" as we know it.

During an Xbox One X-related event in Longdon, Microsoft's senior global marketing director for Xbox, Albert Penello, recently chatted with MCVUK on how the company is focusing on compatibility – and not just backward compatibility, but also…forward compatibility?

"I don't know what the future holds, but I do know that we care a lot about compatibility and in this day and age people have shifted to caring more about their community and their apps, than caring about the piece of hardware that they're on, and we have just moved with that," he explained.

He did note that mobile devices working with new hardware would be a smart business move, but didn't entirely rule out we wouldn't see new systems from Microsoft beyond the Xbox One X. But that seems to be the general idea.

"I'm certainly not an advocate of 'we're going to do a new console every year,'" he noted. "But consumers are more used to this idea that they can buy devices with different performance levels, when a new generation of hardware comes out, their old stuff still works."

That said, the idea that "console generations" would be a thing of the past seems a bit odd, especially with Sony reportedly already working on a PlayStation 5 for introduction down the road, and other pieces of new hardware making the rounds – like Nintendo's SNES Classic, which arrives next week. There always seems to be room for something new, despite improvements to current hardware on the market, and modifications to make them run to maximum efficiency.

We'll see what the future holds soon enough, as Microsoft is going full speed ahead for its launch of the Xbox One X when it arrives on November 7th. Despite its light load of games this holiday season, it's confident that it will be the next evolution of console gaming for the market. We'll see soon enough.