Microsoft has been sending strong hints for a while that its next Xbox console will be very different. Likely to be Windows-based and to be a much more open platform.

Just how different might it feel?

Well, earlier this week Epic Games VP Steve Allison, who oversees the Fortnite-maker’s Epic Games Store store, told me that EGS is “going be there, like, on day one. “

A console with multiple marketplaces, not just the console-maker’s store. And, sure, you can say it’s just a PC then, but it’s notable that Allison also told me that the reason that EGS isn’t on last year’s Xbox-branded portable Ally X device yet (Steam, Ubisoft store and Xbox store are) is because they haven’t built the app yet. So some work will need to be done, Epic wants to do that work and, so far, Microsoft has signaled that it wants them to.

A fascinating future for Microsoft’s consoles. The last place runners in the console races tend to make the wildest moves.