There have been a lot of questions about Microsoft’s plans for the Xbox Series X/S moving forward, as there are plenty of rumors that Sony plans to release the PS5 Pro soon. However, it looks like the current-gen Xbox hardware will not be seeing a mid-generation update.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently spoke to several media outlets during Gamescom 2023 about the possibility of having a mid-gen hardware upgrade to the Series X/S. According to Spencer, he doesn’t “feel an imperative” to give the current-gen Xbox an update. He also believes that the current consoles have a lot of headroom in terms of the CPU and GPU.
“No, no. We’re focused right now on the increased storage Xbox Series S,” Spencer said to IGN when asked about the possibility of a hardware update for the Series X/S. “But no, like I said, we’re kind of at the end of the beginning in my mind. So I think we need to let devs settle on this hardware and get the most out of it.”
He adds, “But in terms of increased frame rate and increased resolution, I just look at what goes on on PC with high-end GPUs and high-end CPU, and it’s not always just about pixel count or frame resolution. I think there’s lighting techniques. There’s a bunch of things that go into what makes a game look and feel great. And we have a ton of headroom as an industry there.”
Xbox will soon be releasing the Carbon Black Xbox Series S which features a 1TB SSD. The console is priced at $349.99 and is coming to retailers on September 6, 2023. The release of the new Series S variant coincides with the launch of Starfield.
Gamers planning to play the upcoming space exploration RPG from Bethesda will need a lot the disk space as the game’s download size will be around 120GB on consoles, a size that’s becoming all the more common with big AAA releases.
Spencer also spoke to Eurogamer on the topic of a mid-generation hardware refresh. He said that doing a refresh will introduce “a bunch of issues” for developers. He also shared that he still doesn’t see the need for a refresh given that most games do not need to run on 4K and 60FPS.
“I think what we get ourselves into is this world of like, ‘Should we do a mid-gen refresh? Because we think every game should be 4K 60fps. And we’re not seeing that right now so, clearly, we need to mid-gen refresh.'” Spencer explained.
“As soon as you start doing mid-gen refreshes, you’ve got a bunch of issues in front of developers, on what platform they target. And it starts to feel a lot more like PC – which is clearly a good ecosystem that’s healthy, but then I’m like, ‘Okay, well, what’s the difference then between console and PC, if we’re in this mode of every two years, a new GPU comes out, or CPU?'”
“And there’s a bunch of things. I mean, we are the Windows company. We know what it means to run a platform that’s more continuous and, I will say, open. I actually love that for console gaming.” While Spencer doesn’t feel the need for a mid-generation hardware refresh, many fans of the Xbox console believe that a hardware upgrade, at least the very least for the Series S, is needed.
There have been a lot of development issues related to the budget-tier Xbox in recent months. One of the most prominent examples would be the delay of Baldur’s Gate 3, which was reportedly due to a split-screen issue on the Series S.
Gamers feel that the parity clause between the Series X and S is the reason why games like Starfield and Redfall are locked at 30FPS. There have been recent calls to release games exclusively on the more powerful Series X from console owners. The 60FPS threshold has been a standard for first-person shooters for several years now.
However, it does make sense to keep the current Xbox console lineup. Given that there are already development issues cropping up, adding one or two more consoles to the mix would certainly complicate things even more. So for now, gamers will have to settle for the Carbon Black Xbox Series S coming next month.
