According to new reports, Microsoft is planning to release its next gaming console — codenamed “Scarlett” — in 2020, seven years after the original Xbox One launched. Two mid-generation upgrades have since followed, in the shape of the Xbox One S and X, bringing technical and aesthetic improvements each time.
Could the Xbox One X, released in 2017, be superseded as early as 2020?
Interestingly, Thurrott’s Brad Sams says that corroborating evidence he was able to find indicates that “Scarlett” is actually a family of products. The new devices are also expected to be backwards-compatible with Xbox One content.
By comparison, the previous Microsoft console generation lasted about ten years — the Xbox 360 launched in 2005 and was discontinued in 2016, three years after the release of the Xbox One.
Analyst Comment
Phil Spencer’s recent comments at E3, suggesting that the next generation of Xbox will target “benchmark graphics performance” bodes well for the new console, in my opinion. Based on this generation as a whole, I think console makers and software developers would do well to refine what they’re doing with Ultra HD, HDR and VR before moving on to anything bigger and better. (AF)
