AMD Scores Chip Deal To Power Microsoft's Next-Gen Xbox And More Gaming Devices
At this point, we've pretty much come to expect that AMD will power living room consoles from Microsoft and Sony, but that's not necessarily how it will always be (just ask Intel about its past relationship with Apple). However, AMD will indeed power Microsoft's first-party gaming systems for the foreseeable future, with the company announcing it has formed a "strategic, multi-year partnership with AMD" to keep the good times rolling.
Microsoft made the announcement in a short video featuring Xbox President Sarah Bond, who said the two firms will co-engineer silicon across a portfolio of devices. And yes, that includes Microsoft's next-generation Xbox consoles (plural). Here's the video...
Though short, there are some interesting nuggets to unpack. As mentioned, this is not a one-off hardware partnership, but a collaboration that will see AMD inject its chips into multiple Xbox devices "in your living room, and in your hands." Reading between the lines, Microsoft basically just confirmed that it will launch another console to succeed the Xbox Series X|S.
That statement can also hints at Microsoft launching its own handheld gaming device, in addition to the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X that it recently unveiled in partnership with ASUS. That said, there has been speculation that Microsoft may have abandoned plans to release its own handheld (without the help of ASUS or any other device maker), so it will be interesting to see if that's actually the case now that AMD and Microsoft are trumpeting a multi-year chip agreement.
"Together with AMD, we're advancing the state of art in gaming silicon to deliver the next generation of graphics innovation, to unlock a deeper level of visual quality, and immersive gameplay and player experiences enhanced with the power of AI, all while maintaining compatibility with your existing library of Xbox games," Bond says.
Over on X, AMD boss Dr. Lisa Su celebrated the partnership, though she didn't offer up any revealing details. Meanwhile, industry analyst Patrick Moorhead also posted on X saying this is a "big win for AMD," and that there was "lots of competition on this deal," claiming that NVIDIA, Intel, and Arm all likely tried to form a partnership with Microsoft. Whether that's the case or not, we can't say, but in the end AMD got the deal done.
Bond also highlighted backwards compatibility and being able to play games across multiple devices in the short video, along with "working closely with the Windows team" to make it the "number one platform for gaming." From our vantage point, though the video is just a little over a minute long, it's packed with teasers.
"We can't wait to show you what's next," Bond says. Which is fitting, because we can't wait to find out.
