New family of Microsoft gaming consoles is coming: here is what this means for gaming PCs
Microsoft is sending more than a few mixed messages to the gaming community, as it has started working on a new line of gaming consoles codenamed “Scarlett”, with a tentative 2020 release date.
The Redmond giant is giving itself plenty of time to develop these new devices, while more rumors continue to unrael regarding a potential subscription service that will allow Xbox users to access and play any game, from mobile to high-end Triple-A titles, on devices ranging from gaming PCs, to (believe it or not) smartphones.
It is unclear how Scarlett devices will be part of this picture, and just how attractive they will be to gamers who may already be invested in their favorite platforms, but the one important highlight of this whole story is that Microsoft is very much invested in ensuring that no matter what service or device will be offering in the future, backward-compatibility and support of existing games, will be guaranteed.
The “Netflix-style” service Microsoft is working on rolling out, seems to be merely a concept at this stage. Historically, Microsoft has never put too much faith into game streaming, especially with regard to Triple-A titles, but things might change now that server technology and multi-core processing is opening new possibilities for services like these to provide better gaming-rig-level performance for players.
The term “Netflix-style” has been thrown around a lot, which may mean exactly what it sounds like: a monthly fee to access an entire library of games.
The concept was already turned into reality by Sony, with its PlayStation Now cloud gaming service, which for $20 per month allows gamers to stream over 500 titles to their PS4 and Windows 10 PCs.
No details yet exist on what exactly these new consoles will look like, or if they will even replace Xbox with something entirely new, let alone specs and price, but a 2020 release year makes sense, as 2019 will see the release of a massive number of new games, including “Halo Infinite”, the multiplayer “Fallout 76”, and “Cyberpunk 2077”, expected to generate new following for their respective franchises.
Despite these rumors, Microsoft has certainly not lost its focus on Windows 10 gaming PCs, and cross-playing features between consoles, PCs and mobile devices is very much a big part of the experience Microsoft is committed to offering to gamers, according to many associated with the Xbox division at Microsoft.