Baldur's Gate 3 Publishing Lead on Microsoft's Rumored New Xbox: Just a Gaming PC

So, Microsoft might be turning the next Xbox into... a PC you put under your TV. Not exactly our usual movie/TV beat, but this kind of living-room hardware shift has a way of touching everything from streaming apps to media habits. And the way game devs are reacting makes it worth a look.

What kicked this off

Windows Central dropped a report claiming the next-gen Xbox leans heavily into PC territory. The gist: the system would boot into an 'Xbox Full Screen Experience' that looks a lot like Valve's SteamOS and Big Picture Mode. The twist is what has everyone buzzing — the idea that you could back out of that shell and land in standard Windows, like you would on a laptop or desktop.

Developers are already calling it what it sounds like

Larian Studios publishing director Michael 'Cromwelp' Douse chimed in on October 27, 2025 with a typo that basically says the quiet part out loud:

That's an conputer.

Misspelling aside, he is not wrong — what Windows Central describes is a console that behaves like a PC with a console UI on top.

Ybarra: it's 'just PCs' — and WoW factors in

Mike Ybarra, who used to run Blizzard Entertainment and was previously a corporate VP at Xbox, also weighed in. He called these reported new Xbox models 'just PCs' and went a step further: he argued that, combined with the idea that World of Warcraft will supposedly be playable on them, that setup is why Blizzard is removing WoW combat mods when the Midnight expansion arrives. That is his read on it; Microsoft and Blizzard have not laid out the full official picture yet.

Fans got the joke immediately

Under Douse's post, one reply summed up the mood in a single line: if this thing ships as described, it's 'gonna be the most widely adopted pre-built on the market.' Hard to argue.

• Windows Central reports the next-gen Xbox boots into an 'Xbox Full Screen Experience' that resembles SteamOS/Big Picture, with the possibility to drop to regular Windows like on a PC.
• Larian's Michael 'Cromwelp' Douse reacted on Oct 27, 2025 with the now-viral, misspelled line: 'That's an conputer.'
• Former Blizzard president and Xbox exec Mike Ybarra called the reported devices 'just PCs' and linked that PC-like design — plus WoW supposedly being playable on them — to Blizzard removing World of Warcraft combat mods when the Midnight expansion launches.
• Players are already joking that the new Xbox would basically be the most popular prebuilt PC you can buy.
• We still do not know what it looks like, exact specs, or how Microsoft will position it until they actually show it.

Bottom line: if Microsoft really ships a Windows-first Xbox with a console shell, it could be the neatest living-room PC ever made. I am not mad at the idea — just call it what it is.