Mr Viral
Could next-gen follow in 2027?
The dust has now settled on the big Xbox Games Showcase this year, and overall, it was a decent show. It’s provided us a good look at what’s to come for the rest of 2025, and I’m definitely satisfied with how the lineup is looking for the full year. However, it does feel a bit like Microsoft has held a lot back for 2026 – and I’m starting to get the feeling that something big is planned for next year.
We’ve covered a lot of this elsewhere on Pure Xbox of course — either from Phil’s in-show teases or his podcast interview after the showcase — but personally, I think there’s more to it than what’s been hinted at so far. With tons of rumours pointing towards next-gen happening in 2027, I think Team Xbox is planning a big Series X|S blowout in 2026; a swansong year if you will.
As seen in the above article there, Phil reiterated that Fable and Gears of War: E-Day are coming next year, while also confirming a new Forza game for 2026 and dropping a little tease about the next Halo as well. All of this, combined with 2026 being Xbox’s 25th anniversary, makes it feel like a huge upcoming year for Team Green. It’s been a rocky generation so far for them, particularly on the hardware front, but they could really cap the console off with something special here.
Another interesting wrinkle in all of this is just what Microsoft actually has planned for the next generation. With the ROG Xbox Ally reveal now official, it’s clear that Xbox is leaning more and more into Windows gaming, which makes for interesting times ahead. Could this special anniversary year for Xbox actually mark the final year where a traditional gaming console is their core focus? It’s something we’ve speculated on a little bit here at PX HQ, and personally, I’m slowly convincing myself that the next generation of Xbox will be more of a PC platform overall.
For now, that next-gen talk is just conjecture, but the writing has been on the wall for a while with Xbox Series X and S. Dwindling hardware sales have shifted Microsoft’s approach towards multiplatform – bolstered by its own Xbox & Windows offerings centred around Game Pass of course. It’s clear that the Xbox owner isn’t quite as attached to its own hardware anymore though, and I’m still getting used to this strategy change. I just hope Xbox Series X|S gets the send-off it deserves – this is a great gaming platform that has served me well this generation.
As I mentioned up at the top, it does seem like 2026’s Xbox lineup would be a fitting send-off for this pair of consoles, if we do indeed see the next generation start to roll out in 2027. Just the four games mentioned by Phil this summer would lead to a blockbuster year for the team, not to mention everything else we don’t know about yet. I’m both excited and cautious about what the next generation will look like for Microsoft, but one thing is absolutely clear – Xbox has some absolutely amazing games in the pipeline for its current-gen consoles.
How do you feel about all of this? Will 2026 be the final year of Xbox Series X|S? Get chatting to us about it down below.
Ben is a News Writer at Pure Xbox, and is a fan of action, racing and straight-up shootin’ in any Xbox game he can get his hands on. When he’s not clutching an Xbox controller like his life depends on it, Ben spends his time listening to music that’s far too old for him, watching football on the telly and probably eating somewhere.
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