Xbox’s Controversial Rumored Console Plans Might Finally Be Changing For The Better

I genuinely have no idea what is happening over at Xbox HQ, and, frankly, it feels as if neither does Xbox. With the drastic change in leadership recently, consistently declining sales of both hardware and software, a strategy that appears to be in flux at all times, and a fanbase that is jumping ship for the competitor, Xbox feels as if it is in real danger of taking a page out of SEGA’s playbook and ditching the whole console shenanigans for good. This was cemented by Sarah Bond’s poor handling of the “This is an Xbox” marketing, pushing the brand further and further away from its once beloved former identity.

As if things couldn’t get worse, this all culminated in rumors of a PC-like Xbox console, one that, according to Bond herself, “will be a very premium and high-end curated experience.” Naturally, especially considering the exorbitant price of the Xbox ROG Ally X, many took this to mean that the next-gen Xbox would be a similarly prohibitively priced device that caters more to the PC market than it does to the core Xbox consumer. Of course, this was met with much derision and thus labeled a controversial move. However, with new leadership comes fresh ideas, and it would appear that there’s a chance Bond’s push for an expensive PC-esque console could be a thing of the past.

The “This Is An Xbox” Strategy May Have Failed

I shan’t say that I told you so, Xbox, but it feels as if the writing has been on the wall for some time. In a seeming last-ditch attempt at recovering some level of brand-positivity after the disastrous Xbox One era saw too few Xbox users adopt a sizeable-enough digital library to warrant purchasing the Xbox Series X/S, the move to making everything an Xbox rather than the specialized device designed to be exactly that has, allegedly, failed.

From a consumer standpoint, the marketing move has never felt particularly clear or incentivizing. Sure, it’s nice to get some Xbox first-party games on PlayStation now and then, but Xbox never really went far enough in pushing for its newfound affection for the multi-platform approach. Some games came to PS5 on day one, others didn’t, and apparently, Microsoft felt no love for Nintendo, as the Switch and its successor certainly were never Xboxes. The inconsistency in marketing failed to convince, at the very least, me that, indeed, everything was an Xbox. Instead, it only further worsened the consistently poor Xbox hardware sales, with Microsoft stating in its FY26 Q2 report that hardware revenue had declined 32%.

Now, according to a report from The Verge, it appears that this marketing strategy had failed internally too, with it having allegedly offended many Xbox employees. According to said report, “the pivot away from console, led by Bond, under Spencer’s direction, hasn’t gone well for Xbox,” that many employees are “relieved that Bond is leaving Microsoft” as she cultivated a need to follow her vision, or else you were out. It also states that Bond’s desire to promote cloud gaming over the traditional console space was “chasing tomorrow’s customers by neglecting today’s.“

Of course, it is possible that this report doesn’t reflect the entire story and must be taken with a grain of salt. After all, the severe lack of updates from Xbox, despite its leadership team constantly giving interviews, gives us little meaningful insight into what is happening right now. However, if even a sliver of the report is true, coupled with the very public failing of the Xbox Series consoles, it is very likely that some kind of pivot back to the previous strategy may very well be in order, and that the next-gen console could look vastly different than how Bond had envisioned it.

The Next Xbox Has To Cater To Xbox Players

The obvious strategy going forward, especially considering the impressive roster of first-party studios currently under Xbox’s belt, is to begin building a strong collection of Xbox exclusives. That way, Xbox can maintain its current playerbase rather than have them jump to PlayStation, and have a library of great games that players can bring across with them to the next-gen console, ideally one that is priced affordably in order to incentivize those who haven’t bought into the Xbox ecosystem to do so. This would not only rectify the mistakes of the current Xbox generation, but its predecessor’s too, one that Phil Spencer himself admitted was a disastrous generation to have lost.

An expensive PC-like console will absolutely not allow this strategy to work, as I suspect no matter how good Xbox’s lineup of first-party games may be, few who currently own a competitor’s hardware will be willing to make the jump at such a high cost. Fortunately, the rumored major Xbox and PS6 delays could provide Xbox with the perfect opportunity to alter its next-gen console plans and deliver something more appealing to the core Xbox fanbase and newcomers alike. This seems even more likely after new Xbox EVP and CCO, Matt Booty, told Windows Central that “[Xbox’s] studio system is fully built around being first-party. We’re not built to just be a publisher.”

With new Xbox leader Asha Sharma committing to returning to Xbox’s roots, telling Windows Central that “there’s a big community at Xbox, and we’ll look at the right way to serve that community,” it seems as if the vision Sarah Bond and Phil Spencer had prior to their leaving is dead. One can only hope Sharma and co. shift strategy and begin redefining Xbox for the better and, hopefully, the last time. More importantly, it will be interesting to see how plans for the next-gen Xbox console develop. Should it go for a cheaper, more inclusive device to draw a wider audience, then Bond’s version, which was billed as being more powerful than the PS6, will no longer be possible.

However, I sincerely hope that rather than doubling down on failed ideas, Xbox rediscovers what made it such an iconic brand in the first place, brings out an affordable next-gen console to onboard new players, and finally utilizes its wealth of amazingly talented developers to curate a library of exclusives worth buying a console for. Only then can it move away from the controversial and unfortunately unsuccessful Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S eras that one can only hope haven’t irreparably damaged the brand.

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