Microsoft has issued a statement reassuring customers that Xbox is, in fact, here to stay. In response to a gust of rumors stemming from Xbox's much-maligned Game Pass Ultimate price hikes, Xbox has confirmed in a statement to Windows Central that a next-generation Xbox powered by AMD hardware will be coming to market after all.
Microsoft offered the following statement to Windows Central concerning its plans to remain within the hardware space: "We are actively investing in our future first-party consoles and devices designed, engineered and built by Xbox. For more details, the community can revisit our agreement announcement with AMD." The statement throws cold water on any rumors circulating about a possible Xbox hardware exit, relevant though they may have been.
Earlier this month, Microsoft announced a series of price hikes across the Xbox Game Pass subscription tiers. The tech giant is raising its flagship tier, Game Pass Ultimate, from $19.99 to $29.99 per month, a 50% price increase. The PC Game Pass subscription also saw a 38% price increase from $11.99 to $16.49, with the lower two Game Pass "Premium" and "Essential" (née Core) tiers remaining at $14.99 and $9.99, respectively.
These price hikes were paired with hardly very little in the way of upgrades or improvements in service to warrant the new costs. Ultimate members are now eligible to receive up to $100 in rewards points "simply by gaming," and Xbox Cloud Gaming has exited beta for all Game Pass subscribers. Additionally, the $30 tier now also includes a free Fortnite Crew paid membership, representing a $12 per month value for Fortnite players.
In response, many online speculators began bandying the idea that the Xbox Game Pass price increases were part of a subtle exit strategy for Microsoft, to squeeze every dollar out of the gaming sector before exiting it for good. However, as Microsoft's statement today reaffirms, this ignores the highly publicized Microsoft/AMD deal from June, where the two companies confirmed that the next-generation Xbox, likely to arrive around the holiday season 2026, will be powered by AMD's hardware.
"I am thrilled to share we have established a strategic multi-year partnership with AMD to co-engineer silicon across a portfolio of devices including our next-generation Xbox consoles, in your living room, and in your hands," said Sarah Bond, president of Xbox at the time. AMD has committed to designing a slew of semi-custom processors for both the next standard console for Xbox, as well as an upcoming Xbox handheld offering, that will remain backwards-compatible with the Scarlett SoC powering the Xbox Series line.
Of course, the future of Xbox will not be a hardware-first venture. Microsoft's heavy investments across the last decade into buying up game studios like Bethesda and Activision/Blizzard, as well as its gamble on Xbox Cloud Gaming, have been touted as the primary wings of the Xbox strategy for the upcoming generation.
AMD fans can perhaps breathe a sigh of relief at the recommittment to a new Xbox generation powered by AMD, though perhaps they've grown used to winning today. Earlier this morning, OpenAI and AMD announced a close partnership where AMD will outfit OpenAI's newest data centers with Instinct MI450 accelerators in a deal that will secure "tens of billions of dollars" in revenue for AMD over the next five years, per AMD CEO Lisa Su.
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