Xbox considering allowing 3rd parties to make Xbox-branded hardware, says new reports

Xbox’s
latest
marketing
campaign
has
set
tongues
wagging,
its
claims
of
“This
is
an
Xbox”
only
furthering
the
idea
that
Microsoft
is
moving
toward
becoming
the
world’s
biggest
videogame
publisher.
Now,
according
to
a
new
report,
they
may
also
be
considering
allowing
other
people
to
make
Xbox-branded
hardware.

That’s
according
to
Samuel
Tolbert
of
Windows
Central,
a
typically
very
reliable
site.
In
the
article,
Tolbert
discusses
the
new
marketing
campaign
and

Phil
Spencer’s
comments
regarding
Xbox
actively
developing
a
handheld
machine.

Talking
about
how
Xbox
is
looking
to
partner
with
various
companies,
Tolbert
says:
“We’ve
even
heard
that
Microsoft
is
exploring
options
around
letting
third-parties
build
Xbox-branded
devices,
something
that
could
extend
as
far
as
letting
them
directly
use
the
Xbox
operating
system.”

Tolbert
goes
on
to
speculate
that
this
could
include
such
things
as
an
ASUS
handheld
machine
with
Xbox
branding
an
an
Xbox
operating
system.

In
theory,
it
could
even
include
consoles
make
by
third-party
manafacturers,
much
like
Steam
did
previously
with
the
ill-fated
Steam
Machines.
It
has
been
speculated
that
Xbox’s
increasing
move
toward
publishing
games
across
multiple
platforms
and
their
lacklustre
console
sales
numbers
could
be
a
sign
that
they
won’t
create
a
next-gen
console,
ceding
the
space
to
PlayStation
and
Nintendo.
That
said,
I’m
not
sure
anyone
would
be
interested
in
making
a
console
using
the
Xbox
name.