Microsoft has set a 2028 launch for its next Xbox console.
According to Axios, although its plans may have altered the expected launch date was mentioned in a May 2022 meeting participated by top company executives including CEO Satya Nadella, CFO Amy Hood, and head of gaming Phil Spencer.
Part of the meeting's transcript was made public as part of Microsoft's lawsuit with the US Federal Trade Commission, which is trying to stop the Xbox maker's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The gaming team was asked if the upcoming Xbox console might not have fixed hardware requirements by a Microsoft executive during the meeting.
Anuj Gosalia, corporate vice president of immersive experiences, said, "One of the things consoles have been really great at is giving a very clear platform target for developers, and [Game Development Kit] has been really good at this."
"Is the plan for 2028 to keep that [illegible] like model or force a Windows-like flexible/capabilities-like model?" another question asked.
Kevin Gammill, corporate vice president of gaming ecosystems, replied, "We have already started this journey with Xbox One and Xbox One X, furthering it in Series S/X.
With Gen 10, "we need to be even more flexible, but also give creators the ability to benefit from specific hardware capabilities."
In statements submitted to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority last year, Microsoft lawyers stated that "the next new generation of consoles is not expected to be released before the fall of 2028 at the very earliest."
In November 2020, Microsoft and Sony respectively released their current-generation consoles, the Xbox Series X/S and PS5.
The COVID-19 pandemic's effects on current-gen supply hurt adoption rates and may have delayed any planned mid-cycle hardware refreshes, even though the companies have historically introduced significant upgrades to their consoles after 3–4 years on the market.
Microsoft's Xbox boss, Phil Spencer, stated in June that a potential mid-cycle upgrade for the Series X was not a priority, and he reiterated this in interviews published last month.
He explained to Eurogamer that once mid-gen refreshes begin, developers face a number of challenges regarding the platforms they should focus on.
"If we get into a console world where we now have three or four closed ecosystems that upgrade their hardware every two years, I'm going to wonder - how is that helping creators or players?" Spencer added. To me, it appears that we are adding a great deal of complexity for creators and players to what was previously very simple. And perhaps there is another model for us."
Additionally, he told IGN that he thinks the current console cycle is "sort of at the end of the beginning." "I believe we should allow developers to settle on this hardware and get the most out of it."
Microsoft stated in legal documents published in July that it expected Sony to release a PS5 Pro console.