Here's when the future of Xbox will be confirmed, and how to listen to it live

(Image credit: Patrick T. Fallon / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

published 15 February 2024

QUICK SUMMARY

Xbox will host a special podcast today, Thursday, 15 February, when Phil Spencer and other executives will address the rumours about the brand's future direction.

There should be some clarity on games being ported to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, plus an update on whether we'll see another Xbox console.

There has been a lot of gossip about Xbox in recent times. It has only sold half the amount of its current generation consoles as Sony, and there is a lot of talk about it ripping up the playbook when it comes to platform exclusives – suggesting that it will start to release all of its Xbox Game Studios titles on rival machines.

Some have even suggested that we might have seen the last ever Xbox console already.

That might be a bit extreme, but there's definitely something up at Xbox towers, and we're about to find out exactly what. The head of Microsoft's gaming arm, Phil Spencer, is to speak with fellow Xbox executives Sarah Bond and Matt Booty on a special podcast to be released today.

On it they will detail the future of the brand and, we hope, what it means for Xbox hardware going forward.

Here's everything you need to know about the podcast, including when it'll be live online and what to expect.

When will the special Official Xbox Podcast be available?

Xbox will post its likely pre-recorded podcast today, Thursday 15 February 2024 at 12:00 PT.

Here are the times for your region:

US West Coast: 12:00 PT
US East Coast: 15:00 ET
UK: 20:00 GMT
Central Europe: 21:00 CET
India (New Delhi): 00:30 IST (16 February)
Japan (Tokyo): 04:00 JST (16 February)
South Korea (Seoul): 04:00 KST (16 February)
Australia (Sydney): 07:00 AEDT (16 February)

How to listen to the special Official Xbox Podcast

We hope to host the Official Xbox Podcast right here on T3 closer the time.

However, you can also listen to it on Xbox's official YouTube channel or "wherever you listen to your podcasts".

Will this be the death of Xbox Series X, Series S and future Xbox consoles?

We don't yet know how much the Xbox executive team will reveal about future console plans, but it's hugely unlikely that it will be scrapping hardware completely.

Instead, we expect Xbox head Phil Spencer, its president, Sarah Bond, and the head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty to discuss a new strategy of releasing games across multiple platforms.

In all honesty, it doesn't make business sense to restrict its first-party titles to a console lineup that only makes up a fraction of the market and is unlikely to ever make up enough ground.

On top of this, Xbox is investing heavily on cloud gaming, so wants its titles on every device anyway – basically anything with an internet connection and access to a screen. So, it's been splitting from the age-old console release traditions already, and for several years.

We'll find out for sure soon.

TOPICS

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.