After the extraordinary couple of days in Xbox towers, where it witnessed a swathe of leaks about its future Xbox console plans, company boss, Phil Spencer, has opened up publicly about the rumours. And he has corroborated them all.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter), he confirmed that the leaked information has indeed come from "old emails and documents". However, he also pointed out that "so much has changed" since those plans were originally drawn up.
We've seen the conversation around old emails and documents. It is hard to see our team's work shared in this way because so much has changed and there's so much to be excited about right now, and in the future. We will share the real plans when we are ready.September 19, 2023
The leaks came from documents posted on the website of the Federal Trade Commission in the US. However, it was Microsoft that "accidentally" uploaded slides of its future plans when it made court documents available.
The FTC case against Microsoft's acquisition of Activision was eventually settled out of court, and so redacted transcripts and other filings have been released to the public.
Unfortunately for Xbox though, the confidential slides were also released online and spotted by eagle-eyed gamers.
They revealed that Microsoft has plans for a "pro" Xbox Series X refresh, to be announced next year and released in 2025. A new Xbox Series S is on the cards too, along with a new controller that will enable lower latencies when playing titles through Xbox Cloud Gaming, as it connects directly to the internet.
Also revealed in documents is that Microsoft plans for its next-generation machine to be available in 2028 – a date it also believes rival Sony will target with a potential PlayStation 6.
But, the Gen 10 Xbox console won't be a straight replacement for the Xbox Series X (or pro model), it'll be a hybrid machine that embraces cloud gaming even more than current technologies.
Spencer's comments do suggest that the leaked information may no longer be accurate, although there's little doubt that Microsoft will look to launch a mid-generation refresh of its range – it did so with the Xbox One X, after all.
But that shouldn't mean you hold off buying a current Xbox Series X. The slides revealed that a new model won't be available until the second half of 2025, so that'd be a long time to wait – especially if you want to play Starfield, which is available on Xbox Game Pass right now.
We also fully expect that the new, improved Xbox controller will be backward compatible, so you can always just add one when its potentially available next year.
