Game developers reportedly confirm Microsoft will release two Xbox consoles next year

[Matrix]

The rumored Lockhart version will be a less powerful, digital-only Xbox

 

 

 

Rumor mill: Although Microsoft continues to deny it has two versions of the next Xbox planned, rumors of a low-end console to be released with its main offering persist. Now a small group of game developers have come forward to say there is indeed two consoles coming out next year, but still nothing official from Redmond.

Last year, rumors surfaced that Microsoft’s Project Scarlett had two next-gen consoles in the works — the standard, high-end version codenamed Anaconda, and a stripped-down model called Lockhart. However, Xbox gaming head Phill Spencer denied those rumors last June.

 

On Wednesday, four anonymous game developers briefed on the matter, confirmed the plan with Kotaku, and said the consoles are set to launch during the holiday season of 2020. Anaconda will be the direct successor to the Xbox One X, while Lockhart will be a digital-only (no optical drive) console analogous to the Xbox One S.

 

Lockhart will reportedly be less potent than its sister console, although Microsoft has yet to disclose hardware specs on anything under the Project Scarlett umbrella, other than passing on some performance goals.

 

 

That said, the sources indicate that Lockhart will still be about as powerful as the PlayStation 4 Pro with around 4 TFLOPs of graphical computing power. It will also have a more substantial CPU than any current console on the market.

 

Microsoft is pushing developers to deliver gameplay at 60fps in 1440p for Lockhart. The company has previously stated that for Project Scarlett (Anaconda), it is shooting for 60fps in 4K.

 

Kotaku speculates that Lockhart will be heavily marketed and perhaps even bundled with Microsoft’s xCloud gaming service or Xbox Game Pass. This reasoning makes sense for a digital-only console.

 

When asked for comment, Microsoft issued its usual, “We do not comment on rumors or speculation.” So take the scuttlebutt for what it is worth until Redmond decides to remove the gag.

 

source

[Karlston]

The next Xbox is in the wild, connecting to current-gen Xbox One players

Specs haven't been finalized; for now, Spencer confirms back-compat pledge.

Sam Machkovech - 12/5/2019, 9:49 AM

Enlarge / We'd prefer to use an official image of the console, but we won't have one of those until Xbox chief Phil Spencer invites us over to his house. And, ya know, Ars tech culture editor Sam Machkovech lives down the block in Seattle, so...

Xbox

A late Wednesday post from the leader of Microsoft's Xbox team, Phil Spencer, confirmed that the first "Project Scarlett" console is officially in the wild, ahead of its late 2020 launch window. And current Xbox One players appear to have already unknowingly connected to it.

 

"And it's started," Spencer posted on his Twitter account on Wednesday. "This week, I brought my Project Scarlett console home and it's become my primary console, playing my games, connecting to the community and yes, using my Elite Series 2 controller, having a blast."

 

Without any extra posts or clarification as of press time, we can only surmise so much from this single statement. But it's admittedly dense. Primarily, Spencer affirms a few details that he and the Xbox team have previously announced about Project Scarlett, the current codename for the unnamed successor to the Xbox One console.

 

For one, the only way Spencer is playing games that connect to the "community" is existing fare, which confirms Xbox's pledge that all existing Xbox One software will play on Scarlett. Whether those games will receive any Scarlett-specific upgrades, like bumps to resolution or frame rate, remains to be seen.

 

Microsoft has also pledged that all existing accessories for Xbox One will work on Scarlett, which is good news for anyone who bought last month's $180 Elite Series 2 Controller (which Spencer shouts out here). There's always the possibility that Xbox will release some form of upgraded controller, but we suspect that the Scarlett console's default controller will copy the buttons and layout of existing Xbox One pads (which already resembled other Xbox controllers' designs).

 

Most intriguingly, this kit's connectivity to the standard retail Xbox One environment, as opposed to a sandboxed "dev kit" network, is a sharp turn from standard Xbox practice. Previous Xbox generations' dev kits have exclusively connected to private systems, including Xbox 360's "Partnernet" (which we used to test pre-release software in the 360's heyday). Does this mean Scarlett's specs are closer to finalized than we previously suspected? Journalists like The Verge's Tom Warren had argued that Project Scarlett's specs were "nowhere near final" as recently as this Saturday, which could very well be the reason Xbox went so far as to let Spencer brag about his brand-new "primary console."

 

Of course, without clarification from Spencer, there's no telling whether he's honestly using an unfinished dev kit whose specs could be changed or boosted at any point between now and the system's "2020 holiday season" launch window.

 

We've already heard that Scarlett will emphasize high-performing games, whether in higher resolution (up to 8K), higher frame rates (up to 120fps), or both. Part of that power equation comes from an emphasis on solid-state hard drive technology, as opposed to spinning-plate drives, along with a jump up to a new generation of AMD chips in the "Zen 2 and Navi" families. It's likely the core AMD technology will resemble what's coming in next year's PlayStation 5, which received its own buzzy, spec-filled reveal in October. That was followed last week by a revealing look at what appears to be the PS5's official dev kit, which has a crazy V shape and a controller that looks a lot like the PS4's DualShock 4 gamepad.

 

 

Source: The next Xbox is in the wild, connecting to current-gen Xbox One players (Ars Technica)