(Image credit: Future/Bing Image Creator)
The FTC vs Microsoft case has the news cycle on fire right now with all the leaked plans coming out from both Microsoft and Bethesda, but a new discless console and a Fallout 3 Remaster are just a few of the spicy leaks we've had this morning. Documents have been published by The Verge that details Microsoft's plans well into 2028 for a full amalgamation of cloud gaming and physical consoles to create a perfect hybrid device and "cloud hybrid games".
"Optimized for real time game play and creators, we will enable new levels of performance beyond the capabilities of the client hardware alone."
The slide above is said to be leaked from a May 2022 document detailing Microsoft's vision and strategy for a 'Cohesive Hybrid Compute'. The consumer has a physical disc-less console that can run games at a higher performance with a combination of cloud technologies and powerful hardware. The price of this tech? Less than $99.
Microsoft shows this new console on a timeline with it's previous devices, and seems to pencil it in for a 2028 release.
An immersive Game & App Platform shown for 2028
Not having a powerful gaming PC myself, cloud services like Nvidia Geforce Now are my favorite place to play Baldur's Gate 3, could this Xbox Cloud hybrid plan be the next iteration of cloud gaming, and in a similar vein mean you needn't purchase a top of the range console to play the latest AAA games?
The idea, pitched by Microsoft, is to create a platform that seamlessly combines the power of the cloud and device to enable gaming anywhere. This may already be in the works at Xbox HQ, and the presentation shows it planned to partner with AMD for the required chips by early 2023 to secure the Navi 5 graphics technology. Other considerations were made like using Zen 6 CPU cores and Arm. Microsoft also anticipated using the power of AI to improve resolution, reduce latency and smooth frame rates.