We recently heard an interesting rumor about one of the PlayStation 6 models, which we reported on. The opposite can be said about the new Xbox.

The next-gen Xbox may cost significantly more than the PlayStation 6 because Microsoft will not earn a 30% profit margin on games sold on the platform due to the Magnus APU and support for external stores (e.g., Steam). Kepler_L2, a reliable AMD-related leaker, reported this on the NeoGAF forums. He confirmed that the leaked AMD Magnus APU will power both the console and gaming PCs. Contrary to speculation, he added that only the console will support backward compatibility with previous-generation Xbox games. This is mainly because publishers do not agree to convert Xbox game licenses to PC game licenses. Outside of the legal gray area of Xbox/Windows dual booting, Microsoft will likely have no way to bring Xbox backward-compatible games to PC.

The next-gen Xbox supports Steam and GOG games and should not face legal issues. It would also be technically feasible to run the games in a virtual machine. However, supporting third-party stores on the system would likely drive up the console’s price compared to the PlayStation 6—potentially doubling it! Microsoft would need to sell the system at a profit without relying on a 30% share of every game sold. Additionally, the Magnus APU could be quite large, adding more costs.

Although this information is unconfirmed, the next-gen Xbox’s higher price tag would not be surprising. The company would really need to recoup costs through the hardware rather than game sales—and even Xbox Game Pass wouldn’t make up the difference. This would place Microsoft in an unusual position, not only because it would essentially be creating an Xbox PC, but also because consoles are already based on x86 processors, just like PCs.

Source: WCCFTech, NeoGAF #1, NeoGAF #2