The new game announcements, there wasn't a whole lot to chew on. Games like Halo, Gears of War: E-Day, Perfect Dark, and Fable did not appear at the event. However, after watching the showcase and noticing what Microsoft was focused on, it's clear that the direction of Xbox is PC.

This showcase, more than any prior, focused heavily on Xbox Play Anywhere, a feature that's been around for nearly a decade but only prioritized recently. Xbox is putting a significant amount of effort into improving the PC gaming experience, as shown in the ROG Xbox Ally. The newly announced device comes with many Windows 11 gaming improvements, seemingly to counteract SteamOS, and with so much of Xbox prioritizing the PC platform, it's hard to imagine the future of Xbox being a traditional console.

Xbox's Big Focus Is Xbox Play Anywhere

Console, PC, Or Cloud

I was surprised by how much Microsoft pushed Xbox Play Anywhere in this recent showcase. Nearly every game had that Xbox Play Anywhere starting logo during the event, and it's a bit odd that it's now focusing on this feature. Xbox Play Anywhere actually started way back in 2016, and I Resident Evil 7: Biohazard being one of the first big games for it. It didn't gain too much traction, and it's only within the last year that Xbox has really pushed this feature towards developers and publishers.

Many games, like Silent Hill f, or the newly announced port of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, will be playable on Xbox Console and PC with a single purchase, allowing you to carry over saves, DLC content, and achievements. It's a nice system that's extremely consumer-friendly, but there's a reason that Xbox is choosing to push it now. For one, Xbox's playerbase on PC has grown quite a bit, with PC Game subscribers increasing exponentially in the last two Microsoft financial quarters.

Second, it just makes sense that Microsoft wants to offer an Xbox Console and PC version of so many titles with the same purchase if PC is the endgame route for Xbox. There have already been plenty of rumors about the next-gen Xbox being a PC-hybrid-like system, and this Xbox Play Anywhere focus would make a lot of sense if future Xbox hardware is more akin to a PC than a console. The ROG Xbox Ally also seems to point towards Xbox's PC future.

Xbox Seems To Be More Focused On PC Gaming Right Now

SteamOS Is The Competition, Not PlayStation

In 2025, Xbox's main focus doesn't appear to be on console hardware but on PC gaming, with its rumored Windows 11 handheld device being a large talking point throughout the year. It was finally revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase as the ROG Xbox Ally. A true Steam Deck competitor, this Windows 11 device not only plays games from a wide variety of PC storefronts but also, interestingly, adds many Windows 11 features designed to enhance the PC gaming experience.

When Xbox is reacting to competition from SteamOS and Valve this year, not PlayStation, that's the writing on the wall.

This past May, Windows Central reported that the Xbox first-party handheld was sidelined for the time being to improve Windows 11's overall gaming performance and optimization. Anyone familiar with what's going on in PC gaming right now, and especially with PC handheld devices, should know the reason for this. Just a week before that Windows Central report, SteamOS was made available for AMD-powered handheld gaming PCs, and it significantly outperformed Windows 11.

It was a night-and-day difference, and this seemed to make Xbox change priorities to improve Windows 11 for gaming. When Xbox is reacting to competition from SteamOS and Valve this year, and not PlayStation, that's the writing on the wall. What I took away from the Xbox Games Showcase is that Xbox is preparing for a full-blown pivot to PC gaming in the very near future, with so much focus on Xbox Play Anywhere and its newly revealed Windows 11-based ROG Xbox Ally. Based on what was shown here, I'm not seeing a traditional Xbox Console in the future.

Source: Xbox/YouTube, Windows Central