Foreign media WindowsCentral reported further details of Microsoft's next-generation Xbox console. It is reported that the next-generation Xbox will be the first to completely abolish the paywall tradition of multiplayer games while providing a high-quality gaming experience.

Insider tip from WindowsCentral:

The next generation Xbox will be a carefully customized Windows gaming PC that can run all games launched on Windows, such as Sony's first-party games "God of War 5", "Ghost of Tsushima" and PC games on Battle.net

The next Xbox will be a custom Windows gaming PC capable of running your entire library of native console games.The next generation Xbox will indeed be powered by a full-featured Windows system, and on top of that will provide a TV-optimized console-style experience.

Indeed, Xbox Ally, Xbox Ally X and its full-screen Xbox experience are essentially what the next generation of Xbox will look like.It's no different from the SteamOS interface and big screen mode (which allows you to exit to a full Linux system at any time).Likewise, the "Xbox Full Screen Experience" also allows you to exit into a full Windows system when needed and run other platforms' stores, such as Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft's own Battle.net, Riot client, or even any software you want to run.In fact, you can even run Adobe CC or Microsoft Office on the next-gen Xbox if you want.

However, what makes this new Xbox different from a traditional Windows PC is that it still retains the traditional console experience right out of the box.The initial setup process will be similar to existing Xbox consoles.If you want, you can stay in the Xbox ecosystem and never touch Windows.Exiting to the Windows system is for players who want to play games that are not traditionally available on the Xbox platform, such as PlayStation transplants on Steam, games based on keyboard and mouse operations (such as "League of Legends"), or classic old games from platforms such as GOG.

On the next generation of Xbox, you'll be able to run PlayStation titles for PC, such as God of War V, Ghost of Tsushima, and Marvel's Spider-Man (purchased through Steam or Epic).You can also play World of Warcraft through Battle.net.In fact, you can install and play almost any game that can run on Windows on this console - which means that decades of gaming content will be unified on the same device.

Runs all generations of backwards compatible Xbox games

Additionally, thanks to AMD's new chips, the next-gen Xbox will also run all games currently available in the Xbox Series X|S library.This means all Xbox backwards compatible games, all Xbox 360 backwards compatible games, all Xbox One backwards compatible games, and all current and future Xbox Series X|S games.These games will run natively on the new Xbox and launch seamlessly through the Xbox Launcher's library.

As with any new generation of consoles, developers will likely continue to support the Xbox Series X|S development environment for a few years after the new Xbox goes on sale.Over time, more and more games will also get native versions of next-gen Xbox for their specific configurations.AI technologies such as automatic super-resolution and next-generation frame generation will speed up Xbox Series X|S games on the new hardware, but developers can also choose to directly use Xbox Play Anywhere versions and Xbox's smart delivery technology to support the new console.

The new technology Microsoft is developing, combined with the "fixed" nature of the hardware itself, should eliminate a lot of the inconveniences that PC gaming sometimes brings.For example, things like compiling shaders shouldn't be an issue on the new Xbox.Microsoft is also working on other ways to reduce Windows overhead to benefit all PC gamers, whether they use Xbox or not.

Speculation: What happens to Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass in this scenario? How much will it all cost?

One issue Microsoft is still working out has to do with Xbox Game Pass.Currently, PC Game Pass includes all launch Xbox games, including "Call of Duty," and is much cheaper than the console version of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.If the next Xbox is PC, should I use PC Game Pass on PC instead of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate?

Currently, I hear the current plan is for the next generation of Xbox multiplayer games to be free of paywalls.It makes no sense for "PC" to offer paid multiplayer functionality, especially since it would be a huge incentive for players to install Steam directly instead of using the Xbox ecosystem on that device to play online.However, it remains to be seen whether this plan will actually come to fruition.

I expect we'll see PC Game Pass rebranded in some way.On the Xbox Game Pass website, "PC Game Pass" is deemphasized and almost hidden beneath the three main tiers.Considering that both the standard and premium editions of Xbox Game Pass now include some PC games, I wouldn't be surprised if we see this name dropped in the future.In an era where Xbox consoles and PCs are converging, the idea of ​​offering Game Pass on a per-device basis doesn't make much sense.But we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out.

So what about the price? Xbox president Sarah Bond recently warned that the next Xbox will offer a high-end experience, which may hint that it will be priced higher than before.

In theory, the next Xbox should still be cheaper than a similarly powerful gaming PC.Economies of scale and volume purchasing agreements with companies like AMD will help keep costs down, since Microsoft won't have to pay for Windows licenses itself.Microsoft's upfront investment in the Xbox ecosystem also helps subsidize costs to a certain extent.Even though Xbox has opened up other stores, most casual gamers will continue to make most of their games and purchases within the Xbox ecosystem.

Many popular games currently on Xbox, such as "Fortnite", "Robolos" and "Minecraft", are not available on Steam and may not be available in the near future.You can expect Battle.net games like World of Warcraft to come to Xbox in the future.Although Blizzard's "Diablo" and "Overwatch" have been launched on Steam, the vast majority of users still stay on Battle.net.

Microsoft offers developers a more favorable tax rate of 12% on its PC store (compared to Steam's 30%).It is reported that this policy will continue to apply to developers who develop games for the Xbox PC ecosystem, which will provide powerful incentives.However, this may reduce the amount of subsidies Microsoft has traditionally provided for its own hardware.I think the next Xbox will be more expensive than the PS6, but it will probably still be the most cost-effective entry into PC gaming ever on the market.Additionally, there are other factors that may make it more affordable.

Analysis: This is a risky strategy with huge potential rewards if executed correctly

The Xbox Ally experience is essentially a public beta test of how all of these features will work.Today, if you connect the Z2 Extreme processor-powered Xbox Ally X to your TV, you're testing the next generation of Xbox.

The disadvantage of Xbox Ally - at least for traditional Xbox console players - is that it lacks a complete game library on the console.Although the number of "Xbox Play Anywhere" (games licensed for both PC and console versions) has reached a record high, most AAA publishers have not yet fully joined this ecosystem.Over time, this model may become the industry default, especially on the PC side, where publishers can get up to 88% of the revenue, instead of the 70% on console platforms.Under this trend, it is not difficult to imagine that in the future, PlayStation may also launch its own PC client and land directly on the next-generation Xbox platform, so that they can take away 100% of the revenue, instead of Steam's 70% or Epic's 88%.

The key, of course, is execution.The current Xbox Ally experience isn't perfect.Some strange problems with the Windows system still exist, such as user account control pop-ups, Windows Phone games that appear inexplicably in the game library, the lack of player and developer community functions, and the lack of natural support from developers - these are still major challenges facing the Xbox PC ecosystem.Things have improved significantly since Microsoft refocused its efforts on PC gaming, but it's still unclear how quickly Microsoft can transform its decades-old program spaghetti into a comfortable, TV-centric experience.

Currently on Xbox Ally, Xbox applications still have slow response problems, and the multitasking experience is not stable enough.However, there is no strict time pressure on the development of the next Xbox.As far as I know, Microsoft's target release date for the next generation of Xbox hardware is 2027.By then, the experience must be completely polished and all problems must be resolved.And these "all problems" are not a small number.

All in all, no manufacturer has ever attempted anything like this on such a large scale.Valve is also currently building its own "game console" - a "game console" experience based on Steam OS, with the goal of running PlayStation and Xbox games simultaneously on one device..The advantage of Xbox is that it still has direct access to some of the world's most popular games, such as "Minecraft", "Fortnite" and "Robulus", and has system-level (kernel-level) anti-cheating mechanisms - this is a problem that Steam OS still encounters in some competitive multiplayer games.Of course, in the long run, these advantages are not something that Valve cannot catch up with.In theory, the next generation Xbox will have more games and content than any gaming device in history - not only can it run games locked into the Xbox ecosystem, but it will also have full access to all PC gaming platforms and launchers around the world.

However, there are still many questions that have yet to be answered, and perhaps only time will tell.Do players really want this kind of open experience? Is such a system simple and smooth enough for those accustomed to a "plug and play" console experience? Can its price remain within an acceptable range despite the high-end hardware positioning? In the absence of the traditional selling point of "exclusive content"In this case, will players feel that they have lost some unique value? In addition to Microsoft's own Xbox, will OEM manufacturers such as ASUS or Razer participate in launching more affordable versions, or conversely create more expensive, extremely high-end models?

Regardless, Microsoft's next-generation plans are turning the traditional rules on their head.I'm personally really looking forward to seeing the final outcome of it all.