The Path Ahead for Xbox (Premium)

It's a new day in the world of Xbox, while Phil Spencer has been running the show for some time now, the fruits of his labor are starting to show their face. And for the upcoming iterations of Xbox, the future looks bright as the company has a solid path for winning the next generation console wars.

Earlier this year, Sony announced that they would not be attending E3 and most agree that this is the company putting all efforts into launching their next generation console which is expected to arrive in 2020. Also expected to arrive in that year, as I scooped a few months back, is Microsoft's Scarlett family of devices too.

What this means is that we are gearing up for a classic console-wars launch and here is how Microsoft is planning to win the battle.

For one thing, it will have an all-new Xbox architecture. The Xbox One X, while a great design and offers a lot of power under the hood for a console, was really an Xbox One supercharged. The next generation CPU for the console is expected to be a variant of the Zen 2 architecture and also AMD's next-generation GPU architecture as well, according to those familiar with the company's plans.

But none of this should be a surprise as Microsoft has been partnering with AMD for consoles for some time. Based on what we see with the X, fully expect that 4k, 60FPS for games is going to be the rule, not the exception. And frankly, that's what I would expect from Sony as well.

We know that 4k gaming has to be the minimum feature for the next generation gaming but going beyond 60FPS, doesn't seem like a huge marketing tactic. Sure, I'd love to have 4k with 120FPS but once you start chasing only FPS after 60, the benefits become less important.

The point I'm trying to make here is that I fully expect both consoles will be capable of 4k gaming without any hiccups to performance. Which means to win the generation, each side will need to have a much broader strategy than 'good hardware'.

And Microsoft has found themselves in a unique position. The company's Game Pass service, while it has been off to a slow start, is incrementally gaining momentum and offers a unique value proposition. Starting in the spring, the company is going to offer a disc-less console and they are also spinning up a new service that will allow you to 'attach' a digital subscription to that console when you buy it.

Imagine you go on Microsoft.com, select the disc-less console, then pick two years of Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass, pay the fee, and when the console arrives, it's all set up with the service ready to go. This functionality should arrive next year and also be part of the Scarlett business model as well.

And this is key, Microsoft now has the ability to sell you a console, and for as little as $10 a month, have access to over 100 games. For those who don't want to invest in lots of games that they only play for a month, Game Pass is an excellent value.

But it goes further than that, by building ...

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