It’s certainly not a shocking revelation to say that a console manufacturer is busy working on the next generation of a product. It’s a natural progression of research and development that is to be expected. After all, Microsoft’s head of Xbox, Phil Spencer himself stated that the company’s resident tech guru’s were hard at work on the next Xbox during the company’s presentation at E3 2018 Sunday evening.

It is, however, a bit surprising to learn just how soon that next generation of hardware might arrive on store shelves. If recent reports put together from various sources are accurate, we may be seeing the next Microsoft Xbox console announced as soon as next year.

After first reporting late Sunday evening that the next Xbox project was internally code named “Scarlett”, Thurrot journalist Brad Sams followed up Tuesday with confirmation that the project was real and in development, as well as several key facts regarding the project.

• Scarlett is indeed the code name at Microsoft for the next generation Xbox project.
• It is being referred to as a “family” of devices
• Microsoft plans to bring the project to market by the year 2020.

“This past week, I was tipped off that the next generation Xbox was codenamed Scarlett and in an effort to track down if this information was accurate, I was able to view content that highlighted several unannounced Microsoft products that are coming in the next two years.

Microsoft is planning for the next Xbox console release to arrive in 2020. But what is more interesting, is that Microsoft describes ‘Scarlett’ as a family of devices; meaning we may see multiple pieces of hardware released that year.”

Sam’s reports were further bolstered by a report that came from Windows Central, which provided an identical 2020 time frame for the launch of the next Xbox.

In a translation provided to Windows Central, Jeremy Hinton, Xbox Business Lead for Asia, told Korean outlet GameMecca that the official announcement for the project could arrive as early as 2019.

“Lastly, Hinton made an announcement in regards to the surprise news about the next Xbox which was announced on the 10th during the Xbox showcase. Many engineers are working hard to announce the new console by next year and doing their best to announce it as soon as possible. However, he said if there is no awareness of crisis or clear policy to improve the Xbox market in the country, it should not be forgotten that releasing the new console could be an obstacle to success.”

The particularly interesting note is the Thurrott report of the Xbox project encompassing “multiple devices”.

Microsoft’s Phil Spencer came right out and stated that there was a new Xbox coming at E3 2018.

As we asserted in our pre-E3 coverage piece, The E3 2018 Gameplan – Microsoft , a multi-year plan has been slowly rolled out to transform the Xbox brand from a piece of hardware placed sitting in the living room, to a platform capable of seamlessly streaming a full AAA console experience to any device – whether it’s a dedicated gaming machine, all the way down to a phone or tablet.

This service would be rolled into Microsoft’s current Game Pass subscription service, which currently allows players to download and enjoy an expanding catalog of classic content, as well as every single first-party Microsoft game the day it releases.

In the most important moment of Microsofts E3 2018 press event, Spencer himself stated that they planned to bring full HD streaming to the Xbox platform.

While streaming is confirmed to be a part of Microsoft’s future plans, the multiple devices aspect of this Scarlett Xbox project is very intriguing, as it could come in a variety of ways.

First, there could be multiple sku’s for the next Xbox. One sku could be a premium model, which would allow players to download titles and play them directly off of the devices’s hard drive. The non-premium sku could be a more affordable base model, which only let’s players stream content to the device.

Or, the multiple sku’s could tie in with the next iterations of Microsoft’s Surface tablets. It wouldn’t be too far of a stretch to imagine a special “Xbox-branded” Surface tablet, which would allow you to stream and play every title from the Xbox service, wherever you are.

This second scenario would create an attractive competitor to the Nintendo Switch, the hybrid portable/home console that has enjoyed a huge amount of success since its debut in March of 2017.

OR, and this is the crazy part, but plausible given the fact that the Scarlett Xbox project is being referenced as a family of devices, what if Microsoft was planning to release all three of the aforementioned devices?

Could an Xbox-branded tablet play a part in the future of Microsoft?

That would truly redefine the idea of Xbox as a platform.

Whatever form the next generation of consoles takes, whether it’s the upcoming Xbox, or the PlayStation 5, streaming full console experiences through the power of the cloud will play an essential role in that console’s success.

It’s no longer a secret that the video game industry views streaming as the future of the business. Ubisoft head Yves Guillemot recently stated that he believes the upcoming console generation will “be the last”, and openly stated that the industry was shifting towards streaming.

EA, the world’s largest games publisher, signaled similar sentiments at their EA Play event at E3 2018, when they announced that full HD streaming of all of their future titles would be added as part of their EA Origins Access Premier service. This announcement, while lost in the shuffle of glitzy game trailers during the ensuing days of E3 2018, was the single most important thing announced during the multi-day event.

There is another angle to these reports of a 2019 announcement for the next Xbox: Microsoft is scrambling to defend themselves against the arrival of one of the “Titans” – Apple, Google, and Amazon.

Should one of these three decide to seriously enter the gaming market, the impact could potentially be enough to knock one of the major console manufacturers out of the game and Microsoft, as well as Sony, can’t afford to wait. They simply must get a next generation machine out as a way to keep a lock on the mind share of their fan base, lest they be swayed by attractive new options arriving on the market.

The bottom line is this: these reports confirm that the battle lines for the next generation are quickly being drawn; however, the most radical change that we will see will be to the battlefield itself.

What are your thoughts on Microsoft’s Xbox Scarlett project? Do you think it’s real? Are you ready for the titanic shift in the video game landscape? Let us know in the comments section below.

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