Xbox in 2022: Thoughts, predictions, hopes, and dreams

Microsoft continues to lose arguments revolving around its games library, that not only lacks quality "AAA" exclusives when compared to the contest, but it's mostly missing programmer support vs. PC and PlayStation. Despite not having exclusivity deals in place, certain games like Nier Automata and Final Fantasy Fourteen haven't arrived on Xbox due to the console's abysmal performance in Japan, and problems arising from its platform policies. Xbox gamers accept needlesslly missed out on heavy-hitting, headline-dominating titles, save for some vivid spots like Cuphead and the delinquent success story PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

When information technology comes to visuals, the Xbox One X is dominating the console scene, defying expectations beyond the board. The Xbox Ane X delivers the best visuals available outside of expensive high-end PCs, and it'southward the smallest Xbox yet. The Xbox platform also received a pretty hefty dashboard revamp, bringing in some Microsoft Fluent Blueprint elements and adding in many hotly requested features.

As we move into 2022, Xbox is becoming more and more critical to Microsoft'due south operations, with Xbox caput Phil Spencer ascending to Microsoft's senior leadership team, answering straight to CEO Satya Nadella. 2022 could be an heady year for Xbox, but equally Microsoft'south consumer ecosystem falls apart in other areas, Spencer and his team could have their work cut out.

Games

Later on the painful alternative of Scalebound, Legend Legends, and other prematurely announced titles, Microsoft has shifted to not announcing upcoming Xbox games until they're closer to completion. While that policy will lead to less thwarting in the long run, information technology has created an air of anxiety amid core Xbox fans.

We're in a bit of a lull period when information technology comes to future Xbox exclusives. Microsoft leveraged third-parties to do the heavy lifting in 2022, enlisting titles similar Assassin's Creed Origins to showcase the Xbox Ane X's beastly 4K ability, and making deals with Bluehole Inc for temporary console exclusivity on PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Many of the other games nosotros know nigh were originally slated for pre-2018 launch, only simply got delayed into next year, including Sea of Thieves, Crackdown 3, and Country of Decay 2.

Three upcoming co-op shooters in three unlike flavors. (Ocean of Thieves, Crackdown 3, State of Decay ii.)

Open earth offense shooter Crackdown three has been the subject field of multiple delays, with a multiplayer beta declining to materialize, and a shift out of the 2022 holiday season to layer on additional polish and features.

Sea of Thieves has long been the most promising upcoming Xbox exclusive.

Crackdown iii was met with some mixed reactions following its demonstrations at E3 2022 and other events during last summer, perhaps contributing to the conclusion to delay the game. Hopefully, when information technology does finally emerge, it delivers an experience fans of the franchise deserve.

Country of Decay 2 broke cover at E3 2022, showing off what largely seems to be a remaster of the original game, now with the addition of branch play. A big question mark hangs over State of Decay ii, at least for me, considering that it appears to do very trivial to evolve its format beyond the addition of co-op. Hopefully nosotros'll go more than information on this sooner, rather than afterward.

Sea of Thieves has long been the almost promising upcoming Xbox exclusive, although it was shrouded in a fog of "how do you play it?" mystery until the recent unveiling of its robust progression arrangement. Crews of upward to four players vote on quests of diverse types, complexity, and difficulty. All rewards will exist entirely corrective, from pirate customization, ship designs, and much more. We've besides been teased about various other intriguing features planned for a reveal early in 2022, and trust me, this is 1 game you will want to watch.

I suppose the oddest matter about the iii above planned titles is that they're all open globe, co-operative shooters, to varying degrees. There's at least a modicum of possibility that, if launched in a like time frame, these titles could terminate up accidentally competing with each other. Hopefully, Microsoft opts to space them out a little otherwise Ocean of Thieves could end up cannibalizing sales of the other 2 titles.

As for unannounced games, it feels similar an eternity since we received word near a new Halo title, save for the RTS spin-off Halo Wars 2. 2022 could be the yr Halo 6 breaks embrace, likely to exist announced at E3 2022. While Halo v has been a successful title, Halo equally a franchise doesn't seem to control the same power equally it used to.

Other new exclusive titles will probable come from third-party deals, including the enigmatic Cadaverous.

Halo five'due south story was well-nigh universally panned, saved only by its addictive multiplayer modes. It'll be interesting to meet how 343i plans to evolve the franchise, which, at least in my opinion, is starting to show its historic period.

It seems entirely probable that we'll get a new Forza championship next year, despite the fact the team backside Horizon iii is working on a new RPG championship on the side. It also seems a picayune too early for a new Gears of War announcement. I also accept it on proficient dominance that Age of Empires IV will remain shrouded in mystery for the foreseeable, and isn't planned for an Xbox release anyway. Any other new sectional titles volition likely come from third-party deals, including the enigmatic Ashen, and what e'er Studio Gobo is working on. Don't expect to see sequels to Alan Wake, Ryse, Breakthrough Break, or Sunset Overdrive this year... or maybe ever.

Microsoft really needs to have a few victories nether its belt in terms of gaming, because exclusives like Halo Wars 2, ReCore, and others fell firmly in the "boilerplate" range at best in terms of positive reception. With Spencer at present able to leverage greenbacks and resource directly from Microsoft'southward head honchos, hopefully, there will exist better times alee.

Hardware

As far as hardware is concerned, nosotros just had the Xbox Ane X, so there's no real reason to look any new consoles side by side year. There'south always the possibility of a price cut for the previous Xbox Ane S, though, and perhaps more special edition designs, similar the sexy Minecraft console.

What is a little more likely, however, is new accessories. With Kinect dead, there'southward currently no decent microphone array for new Xbox owners who might want to endure through Cortana'south vocalism commands. Perhaps Xbox isn't interested in pursuing Cortana or voice commands any more, and it's a relic of forced collaboration under Spencer'due south previous line director, Windows chief Terry Myerson, but the lack of support represents a huge missed opportunity that allowed Amazon's Alexa to totally dominate dwelling house smart assistants now, and maybe forever.

Our own executive editor Daniel Rubino has argued that Microsoft should simply include a microphone in a revised media remote, and it makes perfect sense. Will we e'er become it though? Probably non.

Nosotros may however, get a revised Xbox I Elite Controller, the sales of which manifestly defied Microsoft's own expectations. The original Elite Controller doesn't support Bluetooth, unlike information technology'due south more upwards-to-date cousins, and it comes with a scrap of a design flaw. Over fourth dimension, the safe grips tend to autumn off. 2022 would be the perfect time to release an updated version, perhaps with support for the Xbox Pattern Lab.

2018 should be the year we finally run across mouse and keyboard back up hit Xbox too, although Microsoft appears to exist wrestling with the policies over how this works, rather than its implementation. Minecraft already supports mouse and keyboard on Xbox One, so the systems are in place. The filibuster is logistical. Will Microsoft force developers to restrict mouse and keyboard to co-operative games only to prevent anti-competitive play for controller users? Will they implement a system for a game to restrict inputs dynamically to include mouse and keyboard-merely servers for example? Time will tell, only ane thing is for sure: Microsoft doesn't desire controller players to exist forced to play against mouse and keyboard players in competitive games.

Another frustratingly absent-minded Xbox accessory is virtual reality. The Xbox One 10 was announced with VR and Windows Mixed Reality at the forefront, just the promise slipped off radar as we approached launch.

The Xbox One X is powerful enough to deliver high-fidelity "Ultra" Windows Mixed Reality, but Spencer has previously noted that Microsoft wants the general feel to be improved before they bring it to panel, notably with the addition of wireless technology. As such, 2022 withal might be likewise early for VR on Xbox.

Services

We know the new version of Avatars is slated for a launch in 2022, and by the sounds of information technology, Avatars will play a more prominent role in Xbox society than they have done in contempo years. Leveraging their crawly and expressive designs in Microsoft's new AltspaceVR social experience is 1 obvious implementation nosotros could see appear in the future, too.

We'll see refinements and improvements to the Xbox dashboard and its implementation of Fluent Design, but I doubtfulness we'll see whatever more large overhauls as we accept seen in previous years.

I mentioned earlier almost how Microsoft'south voice banana Cortana continues to be a maligned, stagnant feature on Xbox One, particularly if you're using her outside of the US. Notwithstanding, I accept heard that development is on-going backside the scenes, and that new feature additions have slowed down because evolution depends on technology existence built, in part, to make her less, well, terrible. Information technology's probably as well niggling, too belatedly, though, as Amazon's Alexa and Google Habitation have already usurped any hope of Xbox becoming a smart home hub, but hey, I'll welcome any improvement to Cortana for Xbox at this point.

Volition Cortana on Xbox ever be worth using?

Finally, I've also heard talk about the possibility of an Xbox version of Microsoft'southward new Timeline feature, which allows users on Windows and mobile devices to track their activity across supported apps, such as Photos, Role, and Microsoft Border, and quickly jump backwards and forrard straight into an existing activity, web page, or file.

While details are scant, it's easily to imagine how Timeline could translate to Xbox, tracking achievements, game clips, game installations, and more than, perhaps both on your panel and via a Microsoft Account-connected PC or mobile device.

Timeline for Xbox activities? Maybe.

Speaking of achievements, Xbox Platform lead Mike Ybarra told united states how Microsoft is working towards making Xbox achievements and accomplishments more meaningful. Timeline could take a part to play here, tracking your stats in diverse games, allowing you to backtrack through your history as a gamer to quickly and hands share your accomplishments, whether they're achievement-bound or not.

In any instance, it'southward fair to expect new features across the board for Xbox in 2022, although it might still exist too early for things similar the proposed deject game streaming service. Don't expect the Windows Store to stop sucking, though.

An interesting year ahead

2018 will exist an interesting year for Xbox. With the power argument won, people will be looking at Microsoft and then shore upwardly other weaknesses in its gaming ecosystem, namely the depth and latitude of its exclusive habitation-grown catalog, VR, and neglected features similar Cortana.

Microsoft and Xbox have a long-term game plan in mind, and while local hardware isn't going anywhere, cloud streaming will naturally form a large part of this. The logical decision of Xbox is for Microsoft to allow AAA game developers to achieve more than screens by streaming titles through the cloud to devices that wouldn't be powerful enough to run them locally — though this is however years abroad from reality.

In the acting, Microsoft should be doing everything it can to lock as many people every bit it can into its digital ecosystem, ready for a future where the devices affair less than the quality of the services you subscribe to. For now, that means building a high-quality library of stellar and diverse exclusive titles.

About anticipated upcoming Xbox One games for 2022

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Episode ten

Ask Windows Primal: Will at that place be a Surface Duo 3?

Welcome to the 10th episode of Ask Windows Fundamental, a testify where nosotros answer our community's most asked questions effectually Microsoft, Windows, Surface, Xbox, and the general tech manufacture. In today'south episode, we answer questions nearly Windows 11, Surface Duo, Your Phone, and more!

It's here

The AT&T version of Surface Duo is at present getting Android 11

After a very long wait, the original Surface Duo is now eligible to receive its over-the-air Bone update to Android 11. Here is what is new and fixed with the biggest update all the same for Microsoft's outset dual-screen Android device.

Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-2018-predictions

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