A new leak says Microsoft’s next Xbox, reportedly codenamed Magnus, might cost nearly twice as much as the Xbox Series X.
The leak comes from Moore’s Law Is Dead – a tech insider with a good record – says Magnus will likely fetch a retail price of somewhere between $800 and $1,200. Given the Xbox Series X currently retails for $649.99 in the US, this is quite a big jump.
This is due to the fact that the console is likely going to be competing with gaming PCs rather than the PS6. “I don’t see the Xbox Magnus as likely being a direct competitor to the next-gen PlayStation console anymore,” the leaker says (via Vice). If the guts line up with high-spec laptop parts, a four figure tag doesn’t sound as wild as it does in isolation, but we’ll have to wait and see what Microsoft and AMD has up their sleeves for that one.
There’s also suggestions that the PS6 will be weaker than Xbox Magnus. And if that’s the case, the new Xbox might be able to directly compete with gaming PCs (which supports this earlier report) and take the crown of being named the best gaming console with relative ease.
That’s not bad considering that just a few weeks ago, there was chatter suggesting Microsoft had given up on the console altogether.
Opinion
At around a grand, Magnus has to have the performance to match. It needs to be fast, quiet, and powerful and tackle games with relative ease. Otherwise, what’s the point? You could use that money to build a PC and unlock a larger ecosystem.
