Intel Eyes Xbox Chip Deal, Promising Power Shift in Console Wars

Intel's bid for Xbox APU production could mark a new era in console gaming.

Monday, February 5, 2024 5:25 AM UTC

Intel Expresses Interest in Inclusion Within Microsoft's Upcoming Xbox Console, Proposing Domestic Manufacturing

According to reports, Intel is vying with other companies for the contract to manufacture the chip at its own foundry and provide Microsoft with a semi-custom APU for its upcoming Xbox console. In contrast, AMD manufactures the console SoCs, which are fabricated at TSMC in Taiwan.

The original Xbox featured a 733MHz special Pentium III "Coppermine-based" CPU from Intel back in 1999, as per TweakTown. However, AMD has been winning contracts from Sony for its PlayStation consoles and Microsoft for its Xbox consoles. It would be intriguing to see Intel powering the next Xbox, given that AMD is rumored to have already signed a contract with Sony to create the PlayStation 6 system.

With its most recent Meteor Lake CPUs, Intel has been hard at work developing its Tile-based APU strategy. These chips combine CPU, GPU, AI tiles, and other features on a single chip. According to rumors, Intel's Arc GPU division will stop producing separate GPUs after Battlemage and will instead solely use GPU Tiles on next-generation APUs.

If Intel is successful in creating a massive new APU for Microsoft's upcoming Xbox, this plan seems even more logical. Intel would then be able to accurately tune the CPU and GPU rates, incorporate an NPU for AI workloads on the Xbox console, and intelligently control power across the board. It's possible that Microsoft's next-generation Xbox will come with Intel inside and be far more powerful than the PlayStation 6 console, which will run on AMD.

According to a recent video from Moore's Law is Dead, Intel is apparently binning for the upcoming Xbox system. He stated that Microsoft currently has no contracts and Sony currently has two. Sony offers both its next-generation PlayStation 6 system and its portable PlayStation console with AMD. It appears that Microsoft has been dragging its feet and does not have any contracts with AMD for the upcoming Xbox.

Since Microsoft and AMD had not signed a next-generation Xbox contract until a month ago, MLID claims that Microsoft has been hawking its contract with both Intel and NVIDIA. In the interim, AMD and Sony have inked several deals for the next generation of PlayStation devices.

Microsoft's Xbox Negotiations: A Strategic Play in the Chip Manufacturing Arena

Microsoft would be negotiating with other companies over its Xbox contract to get AMD to lower its costs. to give AMD the impression that it might lose the contract to another business, giving Intel the opportunity to intervene and attempt to regain the contract.

MLID claims that Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger first viewed this as a last-ditch effort to save Arc, which is perhaps what motivates engineers to continue developing on more advanced Arc GPUs.

Intel is frantic to acquire external victories for its fabrication facilities, such as Granite Rapids, Nova Lake, etc. However, Gelsinger always harps on the need for Intel to transform into a fab-first business that takes on TSMC head-to-head. One of Intel's main marketing drives is getting Microsoft to give the business a contract for the next-generation Xbox, but the corporation wants anyone to buy capacity for its factories.

The corporation might use this type of promotion to promote its fabrication facilities, effectively saying, "Yes, we're producing Microsoft's next-generation Xbox chip; come build your chip with us." With companies like AMD, Apple, Intel, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and many more, TSMC has partnered with numerous significant companies. Businesses are aware that they can rely on them to produce the best silicon available.

It would be a wise decision for Intel to begin selling the next-generation Xbox console as a "Built in America" product after their victory. Imagine seeing the Intel logo when your next-generation Xbox boots up. I think that would be quite awesome.