Outside The Box

Xbox sets out a plan t o redefine what a next- gen gaming platform could be

With a huge lineup, Xbox sets out a plan tot to redefine what a nextgen gam gaming ming platform could be

To us, t he message was clear. There were those who, following the Xbox Series X firstparty game presentation, seemed confused: if this was to be our first real look at Xbox’s next-gen offering, where were the bombastic graphical showcases, the displays of processing power? Answer: PlayStation’s offering. Xbox has a different idea of what “the next generation in videogames” should mean. Phil Spencer put it succinctly at the start of the show: “We believe that how you find and play your games is as important as the device you play them on.” Game Pass, is an ecosystem Microsoft hopes will address the growing problems of curation, accessibility and the increasing reality that success as a gaming platform is less about hardware than it is about service. When everything’s multi- and crossplatform, where’s the sense in only marketing the box? Promise players everything they own will persist on your family of platforms – even across console generations – and you’re not dependent on the number of boxes you sell. You abstain from the console war. Nintendo did so years ago, and look how that turned out.

A strong lineup is, of course, essential. Over the coming pages, we cast an eye over just some of what’s coming to Game Pass, Xbox Series X – and, theoretically, beyond. The theme is originality and range. If the big players’ next-gen strategies continue to be just as varied, this generation should be very interesting indeed.