Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox will be “a very hot, compelling device,” according to GameStop executive J Paul Raines.

At a recent GameStop earnings call, Raines in a chat with GamesIndustry.biz said, “We’ve been spending a lot of time with Microsoft, but we have to let them take the lead on this, but it will be a very hot, compelling device.

They are doing some really cool stuff, and I’m eager to hear them start their announcements because I think the world is going to stand up and take notice.”

Raines adds, “While some in the industry have a negative sentiment towards the console space overall and believe that next-gen consoles simply won’t sell the same volume that we’ve seen in previous cycles. We don’t subscribe to that. The cool thing with GameStop is, we’ve got a lot of gamers here and we’ve got a lot of people [on the team] who’ve seen every console cycle.

I was talking to one of our founders, Dan DeMatteo, and he was telling me every console cycle you get people who will say ‘there will never be another console,’ or ‘what else can the consoles do?’ And we just believe it’s a cycle and we just haven’t had a new product in so long.”

“But we certainly don’t believe that the new consoles won’t be as exciting,” he said citing the 900,000 people who signed up to the retailer’s PS4 mailing list. “There’s a lot of demand for PS4, and I think there will be for the next Xbox as well, once it’s announced.”

Previously, a rumored claimed that Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox console will require an Internet connection.

Microsoft is rumored to reveal the next Xbox at a special event in late April.