While for now Microsoft's official communication continues to focus mainly on Xbox games and services, we know well that behind the scenes the Redmond house is working the new generation of Xbox, and according to some details collected by The Verge, the first official announcements could soon arrive.

The always well-informed journalist Tom Warren explains that he has had access to Xbox's internal roadmap, which confirms that work on the new generation has already been underway for some time, as already widely announced by both Microsoft and AMD. These documents confirm that the goal of this new machine would not be a simple technical overhaul, but an ambitious attempt to definitively break down the boundaries between consoles, PC and cloud. The next Xbox is in fact described as a "premium" and more open device, designed to integrate seamlessly with the Windows ecosystem and cloud gaming services. In this way, we will be able to take advantage of a hardware capable of offering a unified experience, similar to that of a PC but with the typical comfort of the console environment. Something that, albeit to a lesser extent, we have already seen with the ROG Ally Xbox experiment.

If this is more or less already known information, the news comes from the revelation that the first official news on this vision could come from next month's Game Developers Conference (GDC), scheduled from 9 to 13 March: it is expected that here Microsoft will present new tools and technologies designed to link the PC world to the Xbox ecosystem. On the other hand, Jason Ronald, vice president of Next Generation Xbox, had already suggested that 2026 would be a key year for announcements on the next gen, and the world's most important conference for video game developers seems the ideal scenario to start the information campaign.

The news, however, would not be limited only to consoles. The Verge also confirms rumors that the now-iconic Xbox controller will also undergo significant changes. In fact, there is talk of a new model equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity to reduce latency during cloud sessions (similar to what we saw with Google's Stadia controller), which could arrive as early as the end of this year, before the arrival of the new console. This rumor is flanked by rumors from other sources that also indicate the arrival of a possible Xbox Elite Series 3 controller. Warren explains that these new accessories will not be simple aesthetic updates, but fundamental tools to support a long-term hardware and services strategy, which aims to make the way we play more and more dynamic and interconnected.

We just have to wait for next month to find out how much truth there is in these rumors!