Microsoft’s Next-Gen Xbox May Drop Multiplayer Paywall

The full-screen Xbox experience on the Windows-powered ROG Xbox Ally is a sign of where Microsoft wants to go with its next-gen Xbox console, Xbox executives Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond recently confirmed. It’s pretty clear now that the next Xbox will be more expensive and PC-like, and for the first time ever, Microsoft could also drop the paywall for online multiplayer.

Today, Windows Central’s Jez Corden shared a couple of new details about Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox, including how the company is optimizing Windows and the full-screen Xbox experience that’s currently available on the ROG Xbox Ally. According to the report, it should be much easier to completely avoid the Windows desktop as Microsoft still plans to offer a traditional console experience on its future console.

“The onboarding experience will be similar to what you get today on console, and if you choose, you can remain fully inside the Xbox ecosystem, never touching Windows itself. Exiting out to Windows will be for those who want to access games traditionally not available on Xbox, including PlayStation games on Steam, mouse and keyboard-first games like League of Legends, or even classic games from GOG and the like,” Corden explained.

While the next-gen Xbox will be able to run PC games from other stores, there will still be “native” Xbox games optimized for the hardware. Corden also said that all Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and backwards-compatible OG Xbox and Xbox 360 games will be supported on the new console. Current-gen games may also be enhanced with AI-powered technologies like Auto Super Resolution and frame generation.

“New technology Microsoft is developing, alongside the “fixed” nature of the hardware, should eliminate a lot of the inconveniences that sometimes come with PC gaming,” Corden also wrote. “Things like compiling shaders, etc, shouldn’t be an issue on the new Xbox, for example. Microsoft is also working on additional ways to reduce Windows overheads to the benefit of all PC gamers, Xbox or not.”

Regarding the current paywall for multiplayer games, Corden learned that Microsoft currently plans to drop it on its next-gen Xbox, for consistency. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense to keep this paywall on native Xbox games when PC games installed from Steam or other stores won’t have that. This is something Microsoft probably should have done years ago to make the Xbox ecosystem more attractive to all gamers.

Regarding the price of Microsoft’s next-gen system, Corden believes that it will likely be more expensive than Sony’s PlayStation 6, but still cheaper than PCs with similar specs. Microsoft and AMD should be able to cut costs thanks to economies of scale, and the new console also won’t factor in the price of a Windows license.

“In theory, the next Xbox will have more games, more content, than any other video game device in history, combining games locked to the Xbox console ecosystem, while sporting full open access to every PC storefront and launcher on earth,” Corden argued. While this sounds like an attractive proposition on paper, Microsoft may still struggle to market a console that’s more expensive than the competition. As Phil Spencer previously claimed, “we’re not growing the market with $1000 consoles.”