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Rumor: two new Xbox consoles in development, one to be revealed at E3

Xbox's Phil Spencer is aware of reports, but neither denied nor refuted them, unsurprisingly.

David Craddock

May 25, 2016 1:31 PM

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Brad Sams, a blogger concentrated on all things Microsoft, teased big console reveals coming in the future. Now Sams is getting into specifics: per his YouTube livestream titled The Sams Report, the company will unveil a slimmer Xbox One at E3, followed by an Xbox 2 announcement in 2017.

Kotaku pounded pavement and published a more detailed report immediately after Sams' livestream wrapped up. According to their sources, the slimmer Xbox One model will cost less, possibly contain a 2TB hard drive, and, per a Tweet made by Verge editor Tom Warren, be approximately 40 percent smaller.

Like Sams, Kotaku editors expect Microsoft to announce the slimmer Xbox at E3 next month.

The next Xbox, codenamed Scorpio, will be a more significant upgrade. Three different sources confirmed to Kotaku that Scorpio will have a more powerful GPU, will boast tech able to handle the Oculus Rift, and will be one step in a more iterative approach to rolling out console hardware.

"I look at the ecosystem that a console sits in and I think that it should have the capability of more iteration on hardware capability," one anonymous source told Kotaku. "What I'm saying is as hardware innovations happen we want to be able to embrace those in the console space, and make those available and maybe not have to wait seven or eight years for things to happen."

Not all of the rumors shared by Kotaku's sources are cause for excitement. While Scorpio will purportedly broadcast in 4K, there are no plans to give the console's I/O transfer rate a boost—meaning game assets will be transfer from discs and hard drives at the same speed, making I/O a bottleneck for newer hardware like the beefier GPU.

Both consoles fall under a new umbrella: Project Helix, code for Microsoft's determination for their Windows and Xbox brands to share resources. One goal is for future games such as Halo Wars 2 to release simultaneously on PC and Xbox.

Phil Spencer is aware of Kotaku's reports, as well as those filed by other websites. "Lots of creative chatter today," he tweeted. "Excited to share our gaming story at E3 on June 13th."

You can watch Microsoft's E3 conference at 930a on the given date on Xbox.com, as well as on Xbox consoles.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.