Thanks to a recent leak out of the Microsoft vs FTC lawsuit, we know the next Xbox console is releasing in 2028. And we also have some details about the console, including word that it’s set to make use of the cloud to deliver additional power and performance. If this is true, then the console is presumably going to be always online. If that phrase sounds familiar it’s because it was how the Xbox One was pitched years ago, and it was a disaster for Microsoft. The reveal of the Xbox One was dumpster truck on fire for a few different reasons, but one of the biggest sticking points was the pitch that the Xbox One would always be online. Xbox eventually walked this back, but it sounds like it may be ready to revisit this concept.
“Develop a next generation hybrid game platform capable of leveraging the combined power of the client and cloud to deliver deeper immersion and entirely new classes of game experiences,” reads an official document about the next Xbox console. “Optimized for real time game play and creators, we will enable new levels of performance beyond the capabilities of the client hardware alone.”
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Now, it’s quite possible this vision is outdated and no longer representative of Xbox’s current vision for its next console. And it’s also possible there’s nothing to this speculation. However, if the cloud is going to be integral to the next Xbox — as these leaked documents suggest, and as Xbox’s cloud initative in general suggests — then it’s unclear how the console would work offline.
If the next Xbox console is always online, it’s quite possible it won’t even be a problem for Xbox. 2023, let alone 2028, is a completely different landscape than landscape when the Xbox One was revealed. The idea and practical function of always being online isn’t as large of a hang up for as many people anymore. However, it will be a problem for some people. And on the Internet where every problem is blown out of proportion, it could be a major optical problem for Xbox all over again.
