Could the next generation Xbox run on an ARM-based processor? The possibility has been mooted ever since Microsoft’s FTC-related leak revealed that the firm was investigating which architecture to consider for a circa-2028 console. Would it be x86 or ARM? Would Microsoft collaborate on a custom chip with AMD or tap into the firm’s roadmap of upcoming technology? We never found out. However, Microsoft commentator Brad Sams found something interesting last week: a Qualcomm job ad discussing “the next generation of Surface and Xbox products built on Snapdragon solutions”. Based on his tweets, Sams believes the upcoming tenth generation Xbox will run on ARM – but how plausible is it?
Well, job ads are notorious as a poor sourcing for actual company strategy but can sometimes offer up some insights. This one, for a sales director, seems particularly slight – and after Sams’ reporting, the link stopped working, with the ad eventually re-appearing with all Xbox mentions deleted. So is this an unintended leak or just an error?
Based on everything we know about how Microsoft works, what its intended strategy is, and its comments on delivering the “largest technological leap ever in a generation”, it’s difficult to reconcile any of this with the notion of an Xbox console running on Snapdragon hardware. While Qualcomm has achieved incredible success with its Snapdragon processors on mobile phones, its collaboration with Microsoft on the Surface line has so far been unimpressive. I bought a Surface laptop with the fully enabled Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, finding that gaming was a mess: the PRISM compatibility layer for running x86 code on ARM was missing key support to the point where many games would not even boot. Meanwhile, GPU performance was frankly awful with tremendous stuttering problems.
0:00:00 Introduction0:00:57 News 1: Nintendo reportedly not sending early Switch 2 review units0:11:52 News 2: Should we criticize “forced ray tracing”?0:32:03 News 3: Next-gen Xbox to use Snapdragon ARM chips?0:43:03 News 4: Assassin’s Creed Shadows devs spill ray tracing revelations0:59:11 News 5: Days Gone patch brings balanced modes, VRR support1:13:27 News 6: John tests the Backbone Pro1:23:23 Supporter Q1: Are we reaching the end of the home console era?1:29:46 Supporter Q2: Should Halo run on id Tech?1:38:38 Supporter Q3: Could Doom: The Dark Ages get a PS4 version? A Switch 2 version?1:41:55 Supporter Q4: What happened to the review of Spider-Man 2 on PC?1:48:33 Supporter Q5: What are your favourite memories of the Sega Saturn?
To base a new Xbox on Snapdragon hardware would see Microsoft facing huge challenges on every front. Interestingly, developing games on CPUs using the ARM architecture is possibly the least onerous problem. After all, developers got to grips quickly with Nintendo Switch, which ran a range of CPU-heavy games. Ultimately, it would all be down to how good the compiler is.