Report: Microsoft is making significant investments / financial backing to go all-in on gaming

airraidjet · 2018-04-23 10:43:37

https://www.thurrott.com/xbox/157090/xbox-after-the-xThe more significant tidbits on the importance of gaming at Microsoft moving forward:I have heard from three different sources stating that Microsoft is pushing forward with new hardware but that the release timeline is still several years away.The company is looking to hire a specialist with GDDR6 expertise and they are also exploring how to deeply integrate game streaming into their next console.As for the timeline for the next console release, I’ve heard that within three years is a realistic possibility; the company is not currently in a rush to replace the Xbox One X as it has a significant horsepower advantage when compared to the current offering from Sony. And as you would expect, the console will be backward and forwards compatible, much like the Xbox One X; Paul is also hearing that Microsoft is building another iteration of the Xbox as well.Even though Microsoft is pushing more towards the enterprise with its Windows and Office services, Xbox is one of the few brands inside of Microsoft that has managed to create a huge consumer-following and has a large upside ahead of it as gaming, and eSports, continue to grow. The company has also recently announced that it is expanding its E3 presence that further shows that Microsoft is not shying away from gaming.While Nintendo has carved out a sizeable chunk of the casual gaming market with its Switch, the Xbox only has one primary competitor; Sony. Even though the PlayStation has the lead for this generation, Microsoft is making significant investments in hardware/content to close the gap with Sony and has the financial backing to go all-in on gaming to win the next generationIt'll be interesting to see how 2020-2021 plays out with the next Xbox and PS5.My bet is the next Xbox will launch 4 years after the Xbox One X, meaning Fall 2021, about 3.5 years away. Enough time to make a similar 4-5x leap in hardware power, but next time with a massively better CPU, likely ZEN 3 and NextGen GPU, and 24-32 GB GDDR6.Although I wouldn't rule out a Fall 2020 launch either, and that would still be another 2.5 years from now, using ZEN 2+ and NAVI GPU, and 18-24 GB GDDR6.