The release of the next generation Xbox console may happen as early as the year 2026, based on the latest rumor.
During the latest episode of Game Mess Decides, Jeff Grubb, who is known for his connections in the game industry, mentioned hearing rumors about the possible release of a next generation Xbox console in 2026 from someone who was a part of leaking PS5 hardware specs prior to the console’s launch back in 2020.
Grubb stated that during the court case leaks, it had been revealed that Microsoft was planning a Digital edition of its Xbox Series X console with a cylindrical form factor. However, according to the leaker, plans have changed and Microsoft will skip a mid-gen refresh in favor of an early start of the next generation cycle in the year 2026. A 6 year console lifespan is not unheard of in the game industry, so the next Xbox console possibly launching in 2026 wouldn’t entirely be surprising.
It’s worth mentioning that the Xbox 360 launched a year ahead of the PS3, and things ended up working out for Microsoft’s second game console. Grubb believes that next-gen plans of this sort are at least worth considering for Microsoft. At the very least, we believe that it would allow the software giant to move ahead from technical challenges involving the Xbox Series S.
The prior leaked documents Grubb referred to had revealed that Microsoft’s vision for the next-gen Xbox console is to develop a hybrid game platform capable of leveraging the combined power of the client and cloud to deliver “deeper immersion and entirely new classes of game experiences”. Optimized for real time game play and creators, the console is said to enable new levels of performance beyond the capabilities of the client hardware alone.
Key hardware specs for the next-gen Xbox mentioned in the leaked documents include a possible ARM64 or x64 Zen 6 CPU, a balance of “big/little” CPU cores, a GPU that is co-design with AMD or based on AMD’s Nevi 5 architecture, and programmable ML silicon. In terms of new features, the console is said to offer “next-gen” DirectX Raytracing, dynamic Global Illumination, Micropolygon Rendering Optimizations, ML Based Super Resolution, extensibility model for faster iteration and innovation, and a “thin” operating system.