A few days ago, Microsoft officially unveiled an agreement with AMD to develop the “Xbox of the future”. While the choice of AMD for the future Xbox comes as no real surprise. However, the terms used by Microsoft to make the deal official open the door to a great deal of speculation. Sarah Bond, President of Xbox, announced this strategic partnership with AMD, specifying its aims: to create custom chips that will equip not the next Xbox, but a wide range of Xbox devices. https://youtu.be/VOCtRanwXrA?si=7Pi1Ge1I6j3xYhsE
The Xbox world moves ever closer to merging with the PC
A few days after this announcement, AMD CEO Lisa Su returned to the subject to provide some really important details about Microsoft’s ambitions. The AMD boss declared that her company’s role would go beyond designing custom chips for Xbox consoles , and that it had a complete roadmap of gaming-optimized chips. The combination of these statements hints at what we here have been fantasizing about for years: the fusion of the Xbox world with the PC. Obviously, the hardware of a current Xbox (as of a PS5) is a vulgar PC. The core of the Xbox OS is a Windows kernel… All this has seemed logical for so long. But recent statements point to a major change in the Xbox ecosystem. What we’re about to see with the Rog Xbox Ally is undoubtedly the premise for several major changes. Finally, the statements on backwards compatibility could also mean that the idea of an ARM chip for Xboxes is no longer on the agenda. If all these speculations come together in an alignment of the planets, then the Xbox name would no longer be a console brand but an acronym designating a gaming ecosystem with potentially greater power than we’ve seen with Geforce or Intel inside in the past…
Lisa Su’s statement on the Xbox / AMD agreement
AMD and Microsoft share a bold vision for the future of gaming: a fluid gaming experience across all screens, putting gamers at the heart of the experience, wherever they are. We’re delighted to deepen our relationship with Microsoft and consolidate more than two decades of partnership, innovation and trust, from the early days of the Xbox 360 through to the most advanced consoles, such as the Xbox Series X and S, and the recently announced ROG Xbox Ally handheld consoles. Going forward, AMD will go beyond designing custom chips for Xbox consoles and design a complete roadmap of gaming-optimized chips. It will combine the power of Ryzen and Radeon for consoles, handhelds, PCs and the cloud. And all this with optimal backward compatibility, enabling gamers to access their favorite titles on all platforms, delivering on a promise made to gamers and developers alike.Together, we’re building a dynamic, open ecosystem, offering the next generation of immersive graphics and gameplay, powered by AI integrating new fundamental models to accelerate state-of-the-art rendering. From consoles to handhelds to the cloud, AMD and Microsoft are building the future of immersive gaming. We’re delighted to be working with Microsoft to bring this technology to gamers worldwide. https://youtu.be/kprpRvsOua0?si=q4e-A0KLJD3bZxR3
