This is my first post after being registered on this forum for about four years.
I was formerly a game strategist at Tencent Games, where I participated in overseas investment and acquisitions for Tencent Games, specifically focusing on console games. Setting aside my professional role, I am also a core user of China's largest legitimate gaming community (as evidenced by my collection of over 3,000 Steam games). Therefore, I believe my experience working at a major corporation combined with being a seasoned player of buy-to-own games should give me some credibility on this topic.
I find this claim largely implausible for the following reasons:
1. The SOC (System-on-Chip) for the next-gen Xbox has already been developed and leaked. With the next-gen Xbox set to launch in 2026/2027, Xbox is now preparing to ship dev kits to major partners for adaptation. Abandoning the project at this stage is virtually impossible.
2. Rumors spread easily within large corporations, especially between collaborating departments, but often become distorted through transmission. I've personally witnessed numerous external rumors about Tencent's operations that bore little resemblance to reality. Sneak likely works in Microsoft's gaming division and, through cross-departmental interactions, overheard disagreements during Xbox hardware meetings, leading him to conclude Xbox hardware development had been scrapped. However, disagreements during cross-departmental meetings in large corporations are perfectly normal. These debates hold little real significance, as final decisions are typically made by a handful of senior executives. It's even possible that the departments opposing continued console development knew full well that consoles would still be produced. Their objections were likely just a way to hedge their own responsibility. Should any issues arise with future Xbox hardware, they could claim, "We opposed it from the start," shifting blame onto the original proponents. This is the nature of corporate politics in large organizations.
3. For Xbox, a key driver of digital gaming and a potential future third-party game developer, Ensuring the digital game library for Xbox One and Xbox Series users is crucial for brand credibility. Traditional consoles remain the optimal solution. Existing PC hardware cannot support X1 and XS games, let alone emulate bug-ridden Xbox One and Xbox 360 titles. With a generational shift imminent, Microsoft lacks the time to recruit teams for PC porting of Xbox games.
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