Microsoft is 'full speed ahead' on next-gen Xbox console

Microsoft is 'full speed ahead' on its next-gen Xbox hardware, which is said to be the most technologically-advanced console ever made.

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Microsoft has officially made some big decisions around the next Xbox console. FTC vs MSFT court leaks from 2023 showed that Microsoft was thinking about using ARM CPUs and potentially hybrid compute solutions (side note: new Windows Surface tablets are using ARM).

There's also mention of the new Gen10 Xbox potentially having an NPU, or a Neural Processing Unit, which is a dedicated chip used expressly for AI. The idea is that the NPU could handle specific AI-oriented tasks and free up the CPU and GPU for more important tasks like rendering and processing assets.

Unfortunately, we don't know exactly which hardware plan that Microsoft went with. We just know that something has been selected (and based on the Windows on ARM news, it could be the ARM + NPU model). All we know is that some sort of hardware path has been chosen.

Windows Central's Jez Corden recently got ahold of an internal Microsoft email from Xbox president Sarah Bond. In the email, it was revealed that Xbox now has an extensive compatibility team, and that the new console is currently in the works.

• "It's been nearly six months since we came together as an organization.
• "Our collective achievements in that timeframe are tremendous. Everyone should feel incredibly proud of what we've achieved and excited about the opportunities ahead.
• "We are moving full speed ahead on our next generation hardware, focused on delivering the biggest technological leap ever in a generation."

Microsoft hasn't talked much about the Gen10 Xbox, but the company did reveal the console was in the works as early as 2021.

"We're already hard at work on new hardware and platforms, some of which won't come to light for years," CVP of Gaming Experiences & Platforms Liz Hamren said in 2021.

Then in 2023, UK regulatory body the Competition and Markets Authority affirmed they had knowledge of Microsoft's next Xbox system.

Finally this year, Xbox president Sarah Bond herself said that the Gen10 Xbox would expand Microsoft's gaming hardware to new heights:

"We're also invested in the next generation roadmap, and what we're really focused on there is delivering the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation," Bond said during an Xbox business meeting from February (the same meeting where it was announced that 4 first-party Xbox games would break exclusivity).

On the more short-term horizon, Microsoft is expected to announce its new digital-only Xbox Series X system later this year.