An executive from Microsoft assured gamers that the company is still dedicated to releasing a successor to the Xbox One console.
Although it is still not yet clear when this new device will be unveiled, the executive noted that it will have more features than the current system.
The statements regarding the follow-up to the Xbox One were made by Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft's Xbox division. According to Spencer, a big portion of Microsoft's success is driven by gamers, which is why the company will still remain committed to delivering new products and services to this market.
"I fully expect that you'll see another console from us," he told The Verge. "Our best customers, and I want to keep those people engaged both on the Xbox One and anything we might do in the future. I'm 100 percent committed to that."
Spencer also said that the status of the Xbox console is not in danger of degrading in the future. It will still remain as a piece of gaming hardware and will never turn into a mere app or just a brand name.
It seems this statement is Spencer's response to speculations about the growing popularity of virtual reality since many people believe that this technology will be the next step in the world of gaming.
But, according to Shannon Loftis, another executive from the Xbox department, although the Xbox will remain as a gaming system, this doesn't mean that Microsoft has no plans of expanding its functions and features.
Aside from focusing on controller-dependent titles, Microsoft also wants to create gaming support for augmented reality, which is exactly what the company did by demoing the HoloLens headset with the popular sandbox game "Miecraft," according to Gamespot.
"Most of the games that we've announced and that we've talked about so far are obviously very controller-centric," Loftis said in the same interview with The Verge. "But believe me, we are exploring as many ways to make all of our experiences relevant across all of our platforms as we possibly can."
As for the possible launch window for the next Xbox system, gamers should probably not expect to see a new console from Microsoft anytime soon. The original Xbox console came out in 2001, followed by the release of the Xbox 360 in 2005. Then, after eight years, Microsoft launched the Xbox One in 2013.
Based on this timeline, it seems the new gaming console could come out sometime between 2017 to 2020.
