Microsoft Planning Two Xbox One Hardware Revisions, First To Be Announced At E3

Microsoft is planning to announce an Xbox One hardware revision in addition to multiple new streaming devices at E3 in June.

Blogger and podcaster Brad Sams, who discussed the news during a YouTube live stream, said his sources had informed him that “the Xbox mini is a real thing.”

Sams did not provide information on the system but The Verge’s Tom Warren tweeted that the “new Xbox at E3 will be 40 percent smaller.”

https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/735469909749174272

A more powerful hardware revision is also in the works, but won’t be announced at E3 2016. Sams’ sources say that iteration of the console is more likely to launch in 2017.

An hour or so after Sams’ live stream, Kotaku published an article claiming that “at least two new Xbox models for release in the next two years.”

According to the site, this year’s model is expected to feature a 2TB hard drive. Next year’s model is code-named “Scorpio” and will boast a more powerful GPU. Interestingly, it will be “technically capable of supporting the Oculus Rift.”

These hardware revisions are part of “Project Helix” according to one of Kotaku UK’s sources, which aims to converge the Xbox and Windows platforms. Microsoft reportedly plans to work on their consoles in an iterative manner, similar to Apple’s approach to its hardware.

In March, Xbox boss Phil Spencer commented, “I believe we will see more hardware innovation in the console space than we’ve ever seen. You’ll actually see us come out with new hardware capability during a generation allowing the same games to run backward and forward compatible because we have a Universal Windows Application running on top of the Universal Windows Platform that allows us to focus more and more on hardware innovation without invalidating the games that run on that platform.”

Last month, The Verge reported that Microsoft was testing multiple Xbox One hardware revisions.

Sony is also believed to be working on a more powerful version of the PlayStation 4, which will be codenamed NEO.