Xbox ‘hard at work on the next generation’ as all-digital Series X revealed

Microsoft has unveiled the previously leaked white Xbox Series X, as well as other new colour versions and a promise of the next gen.

It’s true that the moment one console is released each company – Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo – immediately starts work on their next generation console, but given how the pandemic interfered with the first two years of this gen it’s been unclear how long we’d have to wait for the next one.

Failing console sales for both the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 have destroyed any chance of a longer-than-usual generation but while Sony hasn’t commented on the situation Microsoft already said in April that they’re working on ‘the biggest technological leap ever in a generation’. And during Sunday evening’s summer showcase they reiterated that ‘we’re hard at work on the next generation.’

In both cases it was Xbox president Sarah Bond who spoke about the next gen plans but this time she didn’t offer any details at all. And while at least one version of the new console is widely rumoured to be a Steam Deck style portable she gave no indication of that or when it might be revealed.

She also didn’t say when it would be out, but 2026 has been repeatedly rumoured and on the face of it seems believable, given when the Xbox Series X/S launched and the fact that it hasn’t sold as well as Microsoft hoped.

New hardware was announced during the showcase though, with the previously leaked white, all-digital Xbox Series X being confirmed for this Christmas.

The new model will see no change in the power of the machine, but it won’t have a disc drive and will still only have a 1TB hard drive. That implies it will be cheaper than the current model.

There will also be a 2TB Galaxy Black Xbox Series X released at the same time, that will also have a disc drive. It will presumably be more expensive, but Microsoft hasn’t confirmed any of the prices yet – although that will probably come in the next few hours or days.

There’s also going to be a white Xbox Series S with a 1TB hard drive, instead of just a black one, with Bond implying that more colour variations and special editions would be released in the future.

It’s all a clear attempt to refute rumours that Xbox is considering giving up or deprioritising console hardware as part of its business, following its talk about publishing more multiformat games in the future.

There was pointedly no mention of the PlayStation 5 or Switch during the showcase, even for games such as Doom: The Dark Ages, which are coming to Sony’s console.