Microsoft's bid to release next-generation Xbox hardware in 2027 represents a "best case scenario," a fresh report has claimed, with the company not yet fully committed to a launch next year.
Last week, AMD boss Lisa Su appeared to suggest that Microsoft's long-held plans for another Xbox generation could be as little as a year away, after saying that its work on a chip for the console was "progressing well to support a launch in 2027."
Now, a new report by Windows Central has stated that Microsoft itself was a "little taken off-guard" by the commentary from Su, as it is still to fully commit to a 2027 launch of new Xbox consoles internally.
"From a product standpoint, Valve is on-track to begin shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year, and development of Microsoft's next-gen Xbox featuring an AMD semi-custom SoC is progressing well to support a launch in 2027," Su said during AMD's latest financial results briefing. (Here, SoC means 'system-on-a-chip' — the integrated circuit that essentially houses most of a computer's components.)
But while that may sound nailed on, Windows Central's report now states that Microsoft's console division is still waiting on further improvements to Windows 11, on which the next generation Xbox's operating system will be based, before fully planning a launch in 2027. As such, next year remains a "best case scenario" — but only if a polished experience is possible at that time.
Back in 2024, Xbox president Sarah Bond said Microsoft was "moving full speed ahead on our next generation hardware, focused on delivering the biggest technological leap ever in a generation." A year later, the company publicly confirmed its partnership with AMD on its next-generation Xbox project.
Microsoft's next console is expected to allow players to run games from multiple storefronts as well as its own, similar to the Xbox ROG Ally handheld. Both Steam and Epic Game Store support seems likely, and in a new interview with Game File, the company's store boss Steve Allison said the Fortnite maker was keen to show up as soon as possible.
"We definitely plan to be on the new hardware for Xbox, because, unless their policy or stance on it changes, [Microsoft] are telling us they're going to welcome that," Allison said. "And we're going be there, like, on day one. That will probably require us to build in whatever their requirements are, some sort of software to support that."
Should Microsoft launch its next-gen hardware later than 2027, it could still debut before the PlayStation 6. A recent analyst report suggested that Sony was considering a delay to the arrival of its own next-gen console beyond 2028, in a bid to lengthen the PlayStation 5 lifecycle.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
