Xbox’s Next Console Might Already Have Some Unexpected Competition

It’s long been rumored that the next Xbox will actually be some sort of PC-console hybrid—a move that would sustain Microsoft’s ostensible shift away from traditional, exclusives-driven console gaming. This would also make sense given Microsoft’s obvious PC integration, which tees it up to “play nice” with the PC crowd. Furthermore, this tracks with the recent release of the ROG Xbox Ally, which is little more than an Xbox-branded handheld PC.

Whether this is a smart move by Microsoft is debatable, but if this is indeed where the company is headed, it’s clear that it won’t be alone. Fellow PC-centric games company and emerging hardware juggernaut Valve just announced a new Steam Machine, which is essentially everything that the rumored PC-Xbox hybrid console aims to be: the Steam Machine is a compact, prebuilt PC running SteamOS for a smoother, console-like experience. In essence, the Steam Machine presents itself as an approachable entrance to PC gaming, further blurring the lines between PCs and consoles. Unfortunately for Xbox, Valve might be in a much better position to execute this sort of strategy, leading to some unexpectedly stiff competition.

The Steam Machine Could Spell Trouble for Xbox’s Next Console

What Xbox’s Next Console Has Going for It

Let’s try to be fair and assess this purported new Xbox-PC machine holistically. The most obvious boon in Microsoft’s corner would be its already existing Xbox ecosystem: by marketing its next home console as a comfortable stopgap between Xbox and PC gaming, Microsoft could attract swaths of gamers from within its own install base. These customers could be drawn in by the promise of keeping their digital Xbox library, but with the added benefit of getting access to PC-only games. Of course, this would mean that these Xbox loyalists would gain access to a number of first-party PlayStation games as well, since Sony ports many of its titles to PC following their initial console launch.

Put another way, an Xbox-PC hybrid console could give longtime Xbox owners the best of both worlds: they could retain their Xbox libraries and accounts while also enjoying the PlayStation exclusives they missed from the past two console generations. In doing so, Microsoft could swiftly and efficiently address its most persisting weakness: a lack of competitive exclusives.

The Steam Machine Is Still Better Positioned than Xbox’s Next Console

Unfortunately, the above advantages really only apply to those already entrenched in the Xbox ecosystem—a demographic that continues to dwindle as Xbox loses more market share to Sony, Nintendo, and PC storefronts like Steam. Xbox breaking down the partition between its consoles and PCs is likely to be a net positive, but this is something that Steam already did with the Steam Deck years ago. In the same vein, consumers may be more trusting of Steam’s hardware given its emerging popularity and visibility, whereas the recent ROG Xbox Ally has been largely deemed underwhelming and overpriced; one company has left a bad taste in consumers’ mouths with its PC offshoot hardware, and it’s not Valve.

From an optics and branding standpoint, Steam is doing a lot better than Xbox right now, boasting a more competent public image. The Steam Machine will presumably manage to run all the same games that Xbox’s rumored console will, since Xbox launches most of its games on Steam as well; in terms of content, the Steam Machine and the reported Xbox-PC are fairly evenly matched, but the Steam Machine is coming off the back of a much more successful consumer PC endeavor in the Steam Deck, while Xbox has been struggling to prove the value of its hardware for years. As-yet-unrevealed details, like the launch prices of both of these machines (especially when factoring in Xbox Game Pass), might be the deciding factors in this upcoming console bout.

Brand

Microsoft

Original Release Date

November 10, 2020

Original MSRP (USD)

$499

Operating System

Proprietary (Windows-based)

Processor

Custom AMD 8-core Zen 2 3.8 GHz

Resolution

720p – 4K UHD

Microsoft’s ninth-generation console, the Xbox Series X is a powerful machine that can support 4K resolution and 60 fps, depending on the game. Released alongside the Xbox Series S, the Series X has a Custom AMD Zen 2 CPU, a Custom RDNA 2 GPU, and 16 GB of RAM.