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I think tech is far along now that there’s a space for something that is “best of both worlds”. Something that Valve has been trying for a while yet was only successful with the Steam Deck because tech just wasn’t there yet.
Think about it like this: instead of making a whole Xbox based build, devs simply make the PC version of their game and within that PC version they make a series of graphical presets that are the Xbox version, and another one that is the handheld version. This would lower costs for them while Microsoft focuses on building a windows OS that is gaming focused and suspends all the crap that hogs performance. For you the Xbox would work pretty much the same as it always has except you can now also play Steam, GOG or Epic store games if you want (with the risk of jank).
The downside of this is that the next Xbox will 100% not be subsidized if it uses this model, so be ready to pay $700 for it.
Microsoft’s track record is not great at this type of “fork” but I think for them as a company this path makes more sense than selling subsidized hardware that doesn’t move software because it doesn’t sell well. They can now sell software everywhere and if you want a more optimized experience you can buy their box.
I think tech is far along now that there’s a space for something that is “best of both worlds”. Something that Valve has been trying for a while yet was only successful with the Steam Deck because tech just wasn’t there yet.
Think about it like this: instead of making a whole Xbox based build, devs simply make the PC version of their game and within that PC version they make a series of graphical presets that are the Xbox version, and another one that is the handheld version. This would lower costs for them while Microsoft focuses on building a windows OS that is gaming focused and suspends all the crap that hogs performance. For you the Xbox would work pretty much the same as it always has except you can now also play Steam, GOG or Epic store games if you want (with the risk of jank). The downside of this is that the next Xbox will 100% not be subsidized if it uses this model, so be ready to pay $700 for it.
Microsoft’s track record is not great at this type of “fork” but I think for them as a company this path makes more sense than selling subsidized hardware that doesn’t move software because it doesn’t sell well. They can now sell software everywhere and if you want a more optimized experience you can buy their box.