Xbox announces partnership with AMD for next-gen console, and it will not be locked to one store

Microsoft has announced a partnership between Xbox and AMD to develop the next-generation console. The news comes via a video featuring Xbox President, Sarah Bond.

Microsoft and AMD will co-engineer silicon, i.e. the chip, for the next-gen Xbox consoles.  The video also mentions improvements to graphics performance, and some AI features for enhancing player experiences, possibly Copilot for Gaming.

There are some interesting takeaways from the announcement, you can watch the video on Xbox's YouTube channel. Microsoft says it wants to "maintain compatibility with your existing library of Xbox games", this means backwards compatibility won't be an issue. That's excellent news, hopefully it will have a disc drive for physical games.

Bond said that Xbox's partnership "is all about building you a gaming platform that's always with you". She also mentions playing games across devices anywhere you want, so portability plays an important factor here, like the new ROG Xbox Ally handhelds that were recently announced. Microsoft's own Xbox handheld, Project Kennan, is reportedly canceled in favor of third-party Xbox consoles.

Xbox is "working closely with the Windows team, to ensure that Windows is the number one platform for gaming." This is probably related to the previous rumors that indicated Xbox will no longer be a console, but a hybrid OS that can also play PC games. The ROG Xbox Ally for example, boots into an Xbox full screen experience which delivers improved performance.

The best news however is that Microsoft wants to deliver "an Xbox experience not locked to a single store or tied to one device". Existing handhelds that run on Windows can do the same already, and so can the Steam Deck and SteamOS devices. But we are not talking about handhelds alone. Imagine being able to play your Steam games on Xbox, the console that's plugged into your TV. This is huge, opening up the console to third-party stores will be a big win for gamers, and in turn for Xbox. That combined with Game Pass could attract gamers to Xbox.

It's good to see Microsoft doing something right for once, more of this please.

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