Microsoft’s ambitious plans for the Xbox brand are more than enough proof that it means business.
In the latest episode of The XboxEra Podcast, insider Nick “Shpeshal” Baker revealed that Xbox’s current roadmap now extends beyond the conventional 5- to 10-year span, reaching into a 10- to 15-year horizon.
Klobrille, another respected figure in the Xbox community, also corroborated this information, providing a roadmap that showcases the impressive lineup of Xbox games in the near and distant future.
The upcoming year is particularly promising, highlighted by titles like Ara: History Untold, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Towerborne, Avowed, and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II set for release. Beyond these, at least 17 additional games are in the pipeline. This extensive catalog will position Microsoft as a force to be reckoned with in the coming years and likely give it the juice to surpass Sony in the console wars (if that’s still a thing).
An interesting aspect of Xbox’s growth has been the impact on its studios, with Compulsion Games being a prime example. According to Nick, the Canadian developer is reportedly increasing its workforce and splitting into two teams to manage its growing project scale. In fact, there are talks of a DLC expansion for the studio’s upcoming game, South of Midnight.
While the release date for the third-person action adventure is yet to be announced, industry insiders forecast that it will make a splash next year. The very idea that Compulsion Games is considering a DLC expansion even before the game’s release indicates strong confidence in the title and its reception within the Xbox community.
Perhaps the most fascinating implication of Xbox’s extended roadmap is the possibility of a new console. Though there has been no concrete evidence on when this will happen, insider speculation points to 2026 as a likely time frame for the next Xbox console. Whether this will be a variant of the Xbox Series X/S or an entirely new generation console remains to be seen, but either way, this can only be a win-win for the gaming community.
This year might not have worked out for Xbox, with Starfield and Forza Motorsport falling short of expectations, but as a wise man once said, “failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.” All Microsoft needs to do now is stay on the long road it has charted ahead.
