I really feel like a damaged file, however I’ve been writing for greater than a 12 months that the subsequent Xbox console shall be extra PC-like. Now, I believe Microsoft simply teased its next-gen Xbox plans whereas saying its partnership with Asus to convey two Xbox Ally handhelds to the market later this 12 months.
The Xbox Ally handhelds run Home windows, however the Xbox crew has labored with Home windows engineers as well these PC handhelds right into a full-screen Xbox UI. The Home windows desktop doesn’t even totally load, and you employ the Xbox app UI as a launcher to get to all of your video games (even Steam titles) and apps like Discord.
Whereas the mixture of Home windows and Xbox right here is intriguing, it’s the best way that Microsoft is positioning these gadgets that basically caught my consideration. “That is an Xbox,” stated Microsoft through the reveal, clearly increasing its advertising and marketing push past a single console to each display screen and machine.
All of it felt like a real Xbox handheld reveal. There was even an 11-minute-long behind-the-scenes video on the Xbox Ally handhelds, filmed in an identical model to Microsoft’s “Project Scorpio” Xbox One X reveal from practically 9 years in the past. “It is a breakthrough second for Xbox,” Carl Ledbetter, a 30-year Microsoft design veteran, says within the video. Ledbetter helped design the unique IntelliMouse, the Xbox 360 Slim, the Xbox One X, and loads of different Microsoft gadgets. When Ledbetter is concerned, it’s greater than only a easy accomplice venture with Asus.
“For the primary time, a participant goes to have the ability to maintain the facility of the Xbox expertise of their hand, and take it with them anyplace they wish to go,” says Xbox president Sarah Bond, in the identical video. Microsoft thinks of the Xbox Ally handhelds as Xbox consoles with the liberty of Home windows, and I believe the next-gen Xbox goes to look very comparable consequently.
Microsoft’s personal Xbox handheld was reportedly “sidelined” just lately, and I’ve heard from insiders that it’s basically canceled as the corporate focuses on Xbox’s new software program platform. I nonetheless suppose we’ll see next-gen Xbox {hardware} from Microsoft, however I additionally strongly imagine we’ll see a number of gadgets from PC makers like Asus that may also be thought of next-gen Xbox consoles.
That’s as a result of the next-gen Xbox platform is being constructed within the open, with gadgets just like the ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. These handhelds look like a market check for the place Microsoft goes subsequent with the mixture of Home windows and Xbox, and the corporate’s aim to show any display screen into an Xbox.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer made it clear in an Xbox podcast earlier this week that the Home windows and Xbox groups are working extra carefully than ever. He additionally revealed that is to make the PC gaming expertise extra console-like:
That is the tightest collaboration I’ve seen between the gaming group and the Home windows crew in my three many years on the firm. For 25 years, virtually, we’ve been engaged on a console expertise the place you flip it on and it really works and your video games are there, and the way will we convey that to the Home windows ecosystem so that you get the liberty of Home windows to make use of the storefronts and the apps you wish to use, however it appears like a tool that’s purpose-built.
There are many technical challenges on the Home windows aspect to repair, however these new Xbox Ally handheld gadgets additionally reveal a problem for Microsoft: it’s about to promote an “Xbox handheld” that gained’t run most Xbox console video games natively. I’ve seen loads of hands-on YouTube movies claiming it is a true “Xbox handheld,” however only a few make it clear that it’s really solely natively working PC video games.
Microsoft’s Xbox Play Anyplace effort permits you to purchase an Xbox recreation and get the PC model, however solely a small quantity of Xbox video games and publishers are at the moment a part of this. This isn’t a problem for Microsoft’s personal first-party Xbox video games, as they’ve been publishing to PC for years now, however upcoming video games like Grand Theft Auto VI gained’t run on these Xbox handhelds. You’ll need to stream Grand Theft Auto VI as a substitute, till the PC model, which hasn’t been introduced but, is launched.
I believe most shoppers gained’t even notice that is the case as Microsoft is already closely advertising and marketing these handhelds as Xboxes. Xbox followers have been going wild during a watch party, however as quickly because the ROG brand appeared the room received much more subdued. This highlights Microsoft’s model challenges right here and why Xbox followers are cautious in relation to the complexity of a PC and the way forward for their recreation library. Both method, the true advantage of Microsoft’s method is entry to Steam PC video games and even PlayStation PC titles on “Xbox handhelds,” so Microsoft ought to lean into that promoting level initially.
Over the long run, I believe Microsoft will ultimately remedy this problem by way of emulation. Bond created a brand new crew targeted on recreation preservation and ahead compatibility in early 2024, however there are technical and licensing hurdles to beat earlier than unique Xbox, Xbox 360, and trendy Xbox video games can run emulated on a PC.
Till Microsoft is prepared with emulation, it’s filling the gaps with Xbox Play Anyplace and Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming as a substitute. Microsoft’s Xbox app on PC will merely present your just lately performed video games, after which you possibly can simply play them — whether or not it’s natively or streaming by way of the cloud. Microsoft has already completed all of the vital work for cloud saves, so this makes the expertise much more seamless.
All of this work is shifting in a course that Microsoft retains speaking about: selection. As an alternative of shopping for one Xbox console from Microsoft, what when you might purchase Xbox consoles from a lot of PC makers with out ever having to see the complexity of Home windows?
Microsoft goes to alter the subsequent technology of recreation consoles if it could pull this off. The corporate is already opening up its Xbox PC app to record Steam video games, so being able to run Steam video games on next-gen Xbox consoles doesn’t really feel all that far-fetched anymore.
I don’t suppose Microsoft is doing a bunch of Home windows and Xbox work simply to have this software program working on handhelds. I believe this work will give Microsoft the power to manage the console-like expertise and UI on quite a lot of {hardware}, in a method the place it could upsell Sport Cross, its personal Xbox PC video games, and extra. Microsoft is already in a handheld gaming PC race towards Valve and SteamOS, however that’s a smaller battle within the struggle to outline the subsequent technology of online game consoles.
As I’ve written loads of instances earlier than, the important thing to this next-gen Xbox platform shall be Microsoft’s execution. It has every little thing it must make this method successful, however Microsoft’s concentrate on gaming on Home windows has been disastrous previously. With the Home windows and Xbox groups now working collectively extra carefully than ever earlier than, it’s make or break time for a brand new Xbox platform that appears prefer it’s going to increase far past the confines of a handheld PC.
- Now you can strive Microsoft’s new Begin menu for Home windows 11. Microsoft is now permitting Home windows 11 testers to check out a brand new, bigger Begin menu that features a scrollable interface, new views, and extra customization. The perfect factor about this refreshed Begin menu is you can now disable the advisable part and see much more of your individual apps. Microsoft has additionally made the Begin menu bigger based mostly on the display screen dimension of your machine or monitor. I’d nonetheless wish to see an even bigger overhaul to the Begin menu, however having two new class and grid views definitely helps.
- Microsoft is shifting its Construct convention out of Seattle for 2026. Microsoft isn’t planning to host its Construct developer convention in its dwelling metropolis of Seattle subsequent 12 months. The convention is being relocated, and Microsoft isn’t saying the place it’ll host Construct subsequent, after holding it in Seattle since 2017. One report means that the transfer out of Seattle might have been associated to attendee experiences in downtown Seattle. An electronic mail is making the rounds domestically in Seattle that claims Construct attendees had “cited the overall uncleanliness of the streets, seen drug use, and the presence of unhoused people.”
- Microsoft Edge is getting an AI-powered browser historical past that works with typos. Microsoft has began testing a brand new function for its Edge browser that provides an AI-powered search to shopping historical past. This new “enhanced search” function permits you to discover web sites in your browser historical past even when you use a phrase, synonym, or perhaps a typo that’s much like the location you really wish to discover. This function is opt-in and makes use of an on-device mannequin to coach on shopping historical past knowledge “which by no means leaves your machine and isn’t despatched to Microsoft.” This looks like much less of a privateness danger than Microsoft’s Recall function, and also you don’t have to fret about snapshots of your display screen being saved in an area database, both.
- Microsoft and Asus’ two new Xbox Ally handhelds are coming later this 12 months. We don’t have pricing for both machine but, however we do have specs for the brand new Xbox Ally handhelds. The white ROG Xbox Ally is designed for 720p gaming, and the extra highly effective black ROG Xbox Ally X targets 900p to 1080p gaming on the go. You possibly can learn all concerning the gadgets right here and a deep dive into the Home windows and Xbox modifications right here.
- Home windows 11 will get an vital replace to repair system crashes when launching video games. When you use any video games with Straightforward Anti-Cheat, then Microsoft just issued a shock out-of-band replace to repair issues with its newest June safety replace for Home windows 11. Some video games have been making Home windows BSOD, however Microsoft notes that its June replace wasn’t obtainable for PCs with Straightforward Anti-Cheat put in, so solely a small variety of individuals can have put in the replace after which put in an incompatible recreation afterward. Both method, it’s all mounted now with an extra replace.
- Did Microsoft simply tease a Halo CE remaster? Common Notepad readers will know I teased a Halo CE remaster final 12 months, and Xbox chief Phil Spencer seems to have confirmed that it’s on the best way. On the finish of the Xbox Video games Showcase, Spencer casually revealed that “the subsequent Forza” is coming subsequent 12 months, together with “the return of a basic that’s been with us because the starting.” Halo CE was the launch title for the unique Xbox, which turns 25 years outdated in 2026.
- Gears of Battle: E-Day is coming in 2026. Microsoft additionally confirmed this week that E-Day gained’t be launching in 2025 and can debut in 2026 as a substitute. The most recent entry within the sci-fi shooter sequence shall be launched within the 12 months that marks the twentieth anniversary of the unique Gears of Battle recreation debuting on the Xbox 360. It additionally implies that Xbox’s 25-year milestone will embrace new Halo, Forza, Fable, and Gears video games.
- Microsoft Edge’s picture-in-picture mode is getting higher controls. The image-in-picture window in Edge is getting the power to simply pause, play, and skip ahead or backward. The UI seems quite a bit just like the Home windows Media Participant, and it’s a part of a brand new media management heart for the Edge browser.
- Microsoft is simply leaving some Liquid Glass right here. Who did the glass-like design first? Was it Apple with its Aqua transparency results in 2000 or Microsoft with its Aero Glass theme in Home windows Vista in 2007? Both method, Microsoft has launched a TikTok video that makes it clear what the corporate thinks of Apple’s new Liquid Glass design.
- Microsoft CEO says OpenAI alliance is altering however stays sturdy. In an interview with Bloomberg TV’s Emily Chang, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has admitted that the corporate’s OpenAI relationship is changing. “Any firm that has gone from being a analysis lab to one of the vital profitable product corporations of this age — clearly issues have to alter for them and for us and within the context of the partnership,” Nadella says. Microsoft is more and more targeted on diversifying its AI mannequin utilization, as a substitute of relying solely on OpenAI’s newest developments.
- Microsoft’s new Copilot Imaginative and prescient can “see” your apps on Home windows. Microsoft is launching Copilot Imaginative and prescient for Home windows as we speak, an extension of its AI assistant that allows you to share your display screen or apps in order that Copilot can do issues like coach you thru utilizing Adobe Photoshop options or analyze the images and webpages you’re taking a look at. I first tried this through the fiftieth anniversary occasion in April, and I used to be shocked to see it might information me by way of taking part in Minecraft or utilizing some Home windows apps. It’s launching for Home windows customers within the US as we speak.
I’m at all times eager to listen to from readers, so please drop a remark right here, or you possibly can attain me at notepad@theverge.com if you wish to focus on anything. When you’ve heard about any of Microsoft’s secret initiatives, you possibly can attain me by way of electronic mail at notepad@theverge.com or communicate to me confidentially on the Sign messaging app, the place I’m tomwarren.01. I’m additionally tomwarren on Telegram, when you’d favor to speak there.
Thanks for subscribing to Notepad.