The official announcement of the Xbox 720 is just barely a week away, sending consumers back into another heated console war.
But since Microsoft bought Skype back in 2011, it is possible that the first Skype-enabled video game console will be the successor to the Xbox 360.
Dave Their over at Forbes sees this a major bargaining chip for the Microsoft console, so long as they market it that way.
“For one thing, you don’t buy a company for $8.5 billion and then not enable it on a new piece of hardware,” he wrote.
It was speculated after the buyout that Skype might be compatible with Xbox Kinect and help that sell better. But the add-on to the console was too expensive for consumers to get their hands on.
But Skype has some use for what could end up being a family console.
Gaming industry business analyst Michael Pachter recently spoke about the potential of the app in his web series “Pach-Attack”.
“Skype is a killer app because it brings grandma into the mix,” he said. “I think you’re going to see Skype in the next Xbox and I think it’s a reason for the family to get one.”
Mark Hachman of ReadWrite.com speculates that the app may not be the best thing down the road when Skype starts getting integrated into the workplace.
“Do you really want your boss calling you when you’re playing Lego Batman with your son,” he wrote. “I don’t.”
With Microsoft owning Skype, they do not have to give it up for Sony to put it on the PS4 whatsoever.
Microsoft’s next generation console, which has yet to be officially named, will be revealed on May 21. That is just three weeks before E3, the biggest gaming convention of the year.
