Xbox next-gen console price already has fans concerned

Thanks to a recent revision to Xbox Series X hardware, we have a bit of a hint towards the challenges Microsoft will face in producing a next-gen Xbox console that doesn’t cost consumers an arm and a leg.

Time to strap your thinking caps on folks, because I have some explaining to do.

As detailed in a new Digital Foundry article on Eurogamer from Richard Leadbetter, the Xbox Series X has finally seen its first hardware revision.

The latest versions of the console now sport a 6nm silicon processor. If you don’t know what that means and you’d like to, I suggest reading Leadbetter’s write-up.

If you don’t know what that means and you don’t fancy learning why, here’s the short version: processor cheaper.

ICYMI: Avowed it out now on Xbox and PC.

“6nm silicon brings with it apparent cost-reductions and efficiency improvements - but this is no game-changing update in the way it was with the Xbox One S and the PS4 Slim,” writes Leadbetter.

“In concert with a $599 Xbox Series X 2TB, a $449 disc-less Series X and a $699 PlayStation 5 Pro, the days of console cost-reductions are clearly over and the whole nature of what next-gen will actually be is up for debate.”

So what bearing does this have on Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox? Well, I’m gonna try and give you the simple version of this, but I will note ahead of time that it’s missing a lot of the nuance as a result.

Hardware improvements between the next-gen systems and current-gen systems won’t seem as impressive as, say, the leap between the PlayStation 2/Xbox era and the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 era.

In short, expect diminishing returns in regards to hardware improvements moving forward.

However, that doesn’t mean hardware has gotten cheaper– it’s actually the opposite. We’re basically seeing less impressive leaps, but paying more for them.

I’m not going to be able to phrase this better than Richard Leadbetter did, so I’m going to quote him here: “The direction of travel is essentially set in stone at this point, but delivering it at a palatable price-point is the key challenge.”

Microsoft, and Sony for that matter, is going to struggle showcasing minimal improvements to consumers at a higher price point than we’re already paying. It’s going to be a tough pill to swallow for those expecting something huge out of our next-gen line-up.