Don’t expect to see an Arc C-series GPU hit the market anytime soon, as recent rumours claim Intel has canned immediate plans to launch a Battlemage successor. While this doesn’t mean the end for consumer Arc discrete graphics cards, their future is “up in the air” according to current murmurs.
Regular Intel leaker jaykihn0 shared an alleged product roadmap on X, mainly concerning the company’s data centre offerings, including Crescent Island graphics cards slated for late 2026. Pressed for information on the status of Intel discrete graphics cards that would use the same Xe3P microarchitecture, the X user succinctly replied “no gaming GPUs.”
No gaming GPUs.
— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) April 24, 2026
Following this statement, jaykihn0 went on to claim that Celestial (the codename for Arc C-series graphics cards) was in active development for a time, but Intel ultimately cancelled the project “long ago.” Furthermore, according to the leaker, there’s a chance the company will retroactively rename Xe4 (currently known as Druid) to Celestial, but future plans remain “up in the air.”
For the moment, it seems Intel is concentrating its efforts on the data centre and integrated graphics markets. The company’s most recent launch, Arc Pro B70, uses the same BMG-G31 GPU with which the long-rumoured Arc B770 was expected to arrive. Meanwhile, Xe3 is thriving on Core Ultra Series 3 CPUs, with bespoke Intel Arc G3 SoCs reportedly bound for handhelds using the same tech.
Speaking of un-straightforward naming,
It is possible that an Xe4 gaming dGPU will launch. I will not confirm nor deny until I can verify it.
It is also possible this dGPU will be retroactively codenamed ‘Celestial’.
However, the former Xe3p-based ‘Celestial’ was cancelled.
— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) April 25, 2026
I sincerely hope we see a successor to Intel’s Arc B580 and its ilk emerge. The B-series launch marked a turning point for Intel’s graphics business, rising from the ashes of the A series. The company has moved from strength to strength since, with the aforementioned Xe3 products and XeSS 3. It would be a terrible shame to see all this success kept within the confines of data centre and mobile industries.
It looks as though the next showcase of Xe3 graphics we’re likely to get will come via Intel’s Nova Lake integrated GPU. These desktop processors will apparently feature up to 12 graphics cores, matching high-end Panther Lake offerings, but this by no means confirms they will run as fast.
For more chatter about all things graphics cards, check out our picks for the best GPUs on the market today.
