Xbox has a lot of hardware plans for the next few years, including a new Xbox Series X console, "the world's best controller," and maybe even a handheld console.
As revealed via the Xbox FTC leaks (and highlighted by @gamepasstracker), Microsoft has put a lot of thought into its hardware plans for the next few years. In a series of slides, the company reveals what ideas have been funded (aka expected to be announced soon), which ones are "not currently funded/resourced," and which ones are "not in scope for 1st party" - meaning we shouldn't expect to see them come to fruition just yet.
Towards the bottom of Xbox's 2030 goals pyramid, we've got the 'Funded' projects that we can probably expect to see within the next seven years. Here, you'll find things like the recently leaked Xbox Series X Refresh console - which has similar specs as the 2020 console but with a few extra features, such as a new design, more storage, a new immersive controller, and more. You'll also find Xbox's upcoming 'Sebile' controller, aka "the world's best controller," the Cloud console that's better known as Xbox Keystone, a new Wireless headset, and more.
As we travel up the pyramid, the hardware concepts become less and less likely to be released any time soon. In the 'Not Currently Funded/Resourced' section, Xbox lists new additions to its accessibility and audio portfolios, a new "luxury controller" as well as a new Elite Controller, and "console customization." Unfortunately, not a lot more context was given to these ideas, so it's unclear just how much customization Xbox will be able to give players or how exactly it plans to expand its accessibility portfolio.
Finally, in the top section of the diagram, we've got the 'Not in Scope for 1st Party' section. Here, we're seeing the most ambitious projects planned for Xbox, including official earbuds, a media remote, a mobile controller, and a handheld system. Again, we don't know much more than this, but on a separate slide from the leaked presentation, we can see that Microsoft lists some kind of handheld device on its 'Xbox Gaming Beyond' slide.
It's probably best not to count down to any of these Xbox products, especially the ones in the top two sections of the diagram above. Still, it's interesting to see where Xbox's head is at in terms of progressing in the next few years. The company's handheld plans are especially intriguing due to PlayStation's recent venture into the handheld gaming space with its Project Q aka PlayStation Portal system.
Find out what's on the horizon a little sooner with our upcoming Xbox Series X games list.
