Faith Lane 
Gamers now have a strong indication of the lifespan for their Xbox Series X/S consoles with a leak revealing when Microsoft plans to release the next-gen Xbox console.
Unsealed court documents from the Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that attempted to block Microsoft from buying Activision revealed some information on the future of the Xbox brand. As of 2022 the company plans to have a long lifespan for the current Xbox Series X/S consoles, with a planned release window for the next-gen Xbox console.
While early adopters of the Xbox brand paid up for the original console and tossed it out for an Xbox 360 just four years later, that’s not the case these days. Console manufacturers are spacing console releases further and further apart, and all signs point to that being the case with Microsoft as well. The Xbox Series X/S consoles still have several years left, if things move according to plan.
When is the next Xbox console coming out?
The next-gen Xbox console isn’t planned to be released until 2028. This is based on estimates for when Sony will push out the presumptive PlayStation 6. If this comes to pass without changes, it will place the Xbox Series X and S eight years apart from its successor. This information comes from the Activision and Microsoft court case where an official statement offered that timing.
“This term would in any case go beyond the expected starting period of the next generation of consoles (in 2028),” Microsoft said in a statement during the case.
This written information also makes it seem almost official that the new console won’t be released until 2028, which is far off in the future given how rapidly gaming technology shifts. Nintendo is rumored to release its next console in 2024 but there’s no news or rumors on the PlayStation 6. Plans could certainly change and a new console could be released sooner or later than 2028 depending on how the market moves over time.
What comes after the Xbox Series X/S?
There is no official information on features that could be included on the next-gen Xbox console from Microsoft, but there are many things that could be done better.
Both the Xbox Series X and S are newer consoles, having been released in 2020. Despite that, games like Baldur’s Gate 3 have shown the limitations of the Series S and the potential related to two consoles with different specs that are meant to run the same games equally well. The popular RPG couldn’t be released on Xbox right away due to the fact that Larian Studios couldn’t get split-screen co-op working on the Series S. Microsoft requires games to be published on both Xbox Series consoles with the same list of features.
The PlayStation 5 has two models as well, but the consoles have the same specs with the only difference being an optical drive. This approach may be better for Xbox, players, and developers as it allows everyone to focus their attention on one console instead of two.
