Xbox and AMD Announce Co-Engineering Partnership on Next-Gen Silicon

Microsoft and AMD have announced a “strategic multi-year partnership” to develop new custom processors to power Xbox’s next-generation hardware.

In a statement made by Xbox head Sarah Bond on YouTube, Microsoft and AMD’s partnership will extend across new consoles as well as future handhelds and Xbox Cloud Gaming. The announcement was coupled with the promise that new hardware would provide “an Xbox experience not locked to a single store or tied to one device.”

“This is all about building a gaming platform that’s always with you, so you can play the games you want across devices anywhere you want — delivering you an Xbox experience not locked to a single store or tied to one device,” Bond says in the video. “That’s why we’re working closely with the Windows team to ensure that Windows is the number one platform for gaming.”

The partnership with AMD ensures that Xbox is staying within the hardware market for at least another console generation. With the recent announcement of the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X, Microsoft intends to remain competitive to some degree, propelling the Xbox ecosystem beyond the current Xbox Series X and Series S. The Xbox Ally handhelds, developed in partnership with Asus, will offer a new Xbox experience built on Windows. This theoretically should allow players to access other storefronts such a Steam or Epic Games Store.

Putting an end to emerging fears that Xbox may not be supporting backwards compatibility beyond this current console generation, Bond addressed this matter. In the video, Bond confirms that the next generation of Xbox hardware is “maintaining compatibility with your existing library of Xbox games.” Unfortunately, this won’t extend to the Xbox Ally handhelds, which will leverage Xbox games that are available on PC. However, the next consoles within the Xbox ecosystem will fully support your current console library.