Pouring cold water on Microsoft’s announcement about its next-generation Xbox, AMD’s CEO, Lisa Su, has hinted at the console’s expected launch timeline at the company’s latest earnings call.
Su has clearly stated that the next-generation Xbox “is progressing well” to launch in 2027. The top executive also talked about an “AMD semi-custom SoC,” which could debut alongside the next-generation Xbox.
AMD chief hints next-gen Xbox could arrive in 2027
“From a product standpoint, Valve is on track to begin shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year,” says Su.
From what it looks like, AMD’s semi-custom SoC division is working on chips for three different consoles: the Valve Steam Machine, next-generation Xbox, and Sony’s PlayStation 6.
The Xbox 2027 (that’s not its official name) could come with a new semi-custom chip based on AMD’s RDNA 5 architecture, offering massive performance and efficiency gains rather than an incremental upgrade.
The new chip could make 4K gaming at 120 fps the new norm, with advanced ray tracing (potentially even full path tracing) for dramatically improving lighting and realism, and benefit from FSR Redstone, AMD’s most advanced 4K upscaling technology to date.
I’m not even talking about faster loading times and a more responsive UI.
What’s likely changing under the hood
For those catching up, AMD’s FSR Redstone technology could allow the console to render games at a lower resolution (saving power) and then reconstruct a sharper, more detailed 4K version in real time.
The approach could allow developers to focus on richer world complexity and physics, letting AI do the job of upscaling the visuals.
Altogether, the next-generation Xbox won’t only be faster and more capable than the Xbox Series X/S, but it should be smarter, smoother, and far more future-proof than today’s consoles.
For now, you should rest assured that the development of the next-gen Xbox console is on track, and you might get your hands on it in 2027.
However, the ongoing memory crisis, rising component costs, and the substantial hardware upgrade could make the console a pricey affair for early adopters.