It has long been rumored that the next Xbox will actually be some sort of PC-console hybrid – a move that would maintain Microsoft's apparent shift away from traditional, exclusive-driven console gaming. This would also make sense given Microsoft's apparent PC integration, which allows it to “play nice” with the PC crowd. Additionally, this comes with the latest edition of the ROG Xbox Ally, which is little more than an Xbox-branded handheld.
Aside from being heavily hinted at by Xbox leadership, notions of Microsoft making a PC console hybrid are supported by Windows Central, which claims to have confirmed such plans with its sources.
Whether this is a smart move by Microsoft is debatable, but if this is indeed where the company is headed, it's clear that it won't be alone. Fellow PC-centric gaming company and new hardware juggernaut Valve just announced a new Steam Machine, which is basically everything the rumored PC-Xbox hybrid console aims to be: The Steam Machine is a compact, pre-built PC that runs SteamOS for a smoother, console-like experience. Essentially, the Steam Machine presents itself as an accessible gateway to PC gaming, further blurring the lines between PCs and consoles. Unfortunately for Xbox, Valve may be in a much better position to execute this kind of strategy, leading to unexpectedly stiff competition.
The Steam Machine could spell trouble for Xbox's next console
What Xbox's next console has to do
Let's try to be fair and assess this alleged new Xbox PC machine holistically. The most obvious boon in Microsoft's corner would be its pre-existing Xbox ecosystem: by marketing its next home console as a comfortable in-between Xbox and PC gaming, Microsoft was able to attract hordes of gamers from its own install base. Those customers could be lured by the promise of keeping their digital Xbox library, but with the added benefit of access to PC-only games. Of course, this would mean that these Xbox loyalists would also have access to a number of first-party PlayStation games, as Sony ports many of their titles to PC after their initial console launch.
In other words, an Xbox-PC hybrid console can give longtime Xbox owners the best of both worlds: they can keep their Xbox libraries and accounts while still enjoying the PlayStation exclusives they missed from the last two console generations. By doing so, Microsoft was able to quickly and effectively address its most enduring weakness: the lack of competitive exclusives.
The Steam machine is still better positioned than Xbox's next console
Unfortunately, the above benefits really only apply to those already entrenched in the Xbox ecosystem—a demographic that continues to shrink as Xbox loses more market share to Sony, Nintendo, and PC flagships like Steam. Xbox breaking down the partition between its consoles and PCs is likely a net positive, but this is something Steam already did with Steam Deck years ago. Likewise, consumers may have more confidence in Steam's hardware given its emerging popularity and visibility, while the latest ROG Xbox Ally has largely been considered underwhelming and overpriced; one company has left a bad taste in consumers' mouths with its PC hardware, and it's not Valve.
From an optical and branding point of view, Steam is doing much better than Xbox right now, with a more competent public image. The Steam Machine will probably be able to run all the same games that Xbox's rumored console will, since Xbox launches most of its games on Steam as well; In terms of content, the Steam Machine and the reported Xbox PC are pretty evenly matched, but the Steam Machine comes from a much more successful consumer PC effort in the Steam Deck, while the Xbox has struggled to prove the worth of its hardware for years. Still-unrevealed details, such as the launch prices for both of these machines (especially when factoring in Xbox Game Pass), could be the deciding factors in this upcoming console matchup.
- Stamp
-
Microsoft
- Original release date
-
November 10, 2020
- Original MSRP (USD)
-
$499 USD
- Operating system
-
Proprietary (Windows based)
- Processor
-
Custom AMD 8-core Zen 2 3.8 GHz
- Resolution
-
720p – 4K UHD
Microsoft's ninth-generation console, the Xbox Series X, is a powerful machine that can support 4K resolution and 60 fps, depending on the game. Released alongside the Xbox Series S, the Series X features a Custom AMD Zen 2 CPU, a Custom RDNA 2 GPU and 16GB of RAM.
