Gone are the days when everyone talked about the Xbox. There was a time when the competition was tighter than ever. But over time, PlayStation left its rival way behind and zoomed too far ahead with much more powerful consoles and much better games. A recent rumor suggests that Microsoft is preparing to launch its new console way sooner than expected. It is being said that this new console will launch in 2026. This would be around two years ahead of what people suggest the PlayStation 6 launch year would be. There is no doubt this console would be insanely powerful, given how powerful the Xbox Series X is.

When one hears such a rumor, one can’t help but wonder a bunch of things. Would this console be next-gen, or just be a mid-gen update? Would it be able to compete with Sony’s PlayStation 5 effectively? What would it need to succeed in this race to be ahead of its competition? Let’s discuss some of these points.

This console needs to be very powerful.

Running current-gen games at 4K, 40 fps and sometimes even 60 is not a small task. The Xbox Series X and PS5 both do it without much hassle. Games like Metro Exodus even run with ray-tracing at 60 FPS on these consoles. This means there are no chumps when it comes to power. This sets the goals for their next consoles, whatever they might be.

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Hence, the next Xbox needs to be significantly more powerful and capable than the Series X and PS5. This also means that this upcoming console would have to be a big enough upgrade to be able to compete with whatever Sony would be releasing next.

It is being suggested that Xbox is designing this console around a Zen 5 chip. They were earlier planning to go with Zen 6, but now that they have decided to release this console early, Zen 6 will have to wait. Zen 5 means better RDNA support for sure; any other feature can only be specified once any further news is revealed regarding the same.

But yes, if they were planning a next-gen console around Zen 6 and had to settle for Zen 5, this means they would be behind PS6. There’s no doubt Sony would choose the latest chip for their next console. Still, it would have to be seen where they take their new console.

They should keep their cloud plans separate from the main consoles.

One thing that is very worrying is Microsoft’s inclination towards a cloud-based future. No ownership of games; no offline play; and not even owning the digital games you want to play. Just buy a subscription and stream their games through the internet. But this is not something that has any potential to be a success at this point or ever. Most of the popular locations would get this service, but some locations have yet to even get a proper internet connection, let alone stream games.

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Sony is trying to head towards an all-digital future. But they never thought of pushing cloud gaming to their fans as a primary thing. They are still making sure games run on a person’s console and not on a server somewhere, a server that can face connectivity problems at random. And let’s not forget that awful input lag that accompanies these streaming services.

The idea of being able to play Forza or Gears of War on a phone through the cloud is fun, no doubt. But not much if they have to compete with a real console.

Look at the competition.

Microsoft has to look around and see what its completion is doing. As said before, their console would ignore a mid-gen upgrade and jump straight to the next generation. This means Sony will be releasing its rumored PS5 Pro. When a new generation of Xbox would make its way to gamers. They would no doubt be much more powerful than the PS5 Pro. Given the fact that the PS5 Pro is no more than just an overclock over its predecessor.

Microsoft must look at its completion and know what fans are looking for in their console. And for most gamers, the primary thing to look for in a console is always power.

Prepare the best software.

Of course, a gaming console would be nothing if it did not have some amazing games to play on it. Microsoft has rewarded a slew of new developers over the years. Everyone is looking at Xbox to play the next Obsidian title, and they want to try the next game that ID is working on. But all these need to be made pretty fast. And they need to look visually impressive. And they have to run at 4K 60 with Ray Tracing and all the bells and whistles.

Sony might not have Activision, but they have numerous heavy hitter. And no matter how powerful Microsoft’s console ends up being, without exciting software, it would be pointless.

These are the things that Microsoft needs to take care of when they are preparing to launch their new console. It would be great to see what they are working on to catch up and keep up with competition.

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