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.
Note
Aside from being heavily hinted at by Xbox leadership, notions of Microsoft making a PC-console hybrid are supported by Windows Central, which claims to have confirmed such plans with its sources.
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.
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This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
