The big story out of E3 was that the current generation of consoles were revealed to be on borrowed time. But how much time do they have? A new document leak from Microsoft puts what might be a rather definitive pin on the topic, as the next Xbox, called Scarlett internally, will be arriving in 2020. And, apparently, there will be more than one of them.
Ars Technica took a look at an internal document leak for Microsoft’s hardware plans over the next two years. There’s a lot of interest there in general, like new Surfaces, a strange two-screen device that Microsoft is hoping to turn into a new type of format, and a newer, better, and cheaper HoloLens. But it’s the Xbox, or rather Xboxes, that get attention. The leak seems to imply that there’s more than one, which would make sense. After all, there are two Xbox Ones on the market at the moment. It’s safe to assume one will be designed to drive “high-end” gaming experiences while another would be designed for us proles who don’t buy 100 inch 8k screens. Research into whether Microsoft realizes that “apartments” exist is ongoing.
Joking aside, the other major news is that backwards compatibility is, apparently, key to the whole endeavor, not a surprise since Microsoft has been working to make the entire library from the first Xbox onward compatible. Microsoft wants you to be able to bring all your games with you when you upgrade your console. This is good news on a number of levels, not the least of which is, hey, you can still play your old games. It also ratchets up the pressure on Sony, which has been hoping to make you subscribe to a service to get your old games. While the man behind this particular plan, Terry Myerson, is leaving Microsoft, it’ll be curious to see just how far Microsoft takes this.
(via Ars Technica)