Microsoft has quite a few pieces of big news for its gaming fans this year. We barely had a chance to take a closer look at Minecraft Dungeons and we can already prepare for the release of the brand new Xbox console, not to mention the upcoming Halo title that will be released with it. And now, it seems, there is one more thing we can get excited about: a potential “sequel” to the upcoming Xbox console that right now only exists as a code name and a lot of speculation.
Edinburgh
The name “Edinburgh” was spotted by an enthusiast digging through the source code of the Xbox One OS looking for mentions of project Lockhart, a cheaper and digital-only version of the Xbox One X. The code name “Edinburgh” wasn’t given too much attention at first but later the online community picked it up, starting discussions about speculations on what it could mean. And some of the theories sure sound interesting.
From VR headsets to handheld consoles
Whenever people speculate, some of the wildest theories can emerge. Some think that the code name “Edinburgh” stands for an upcoming VR headset that Microsoft supposedly prepares away from the curious eyes of the crowds (and the competition), others think it’s more likely for it to be a handheld Xbox variant. Launching several next-generation consoles at the same time would be a pretty strange approach from Microsoft, so it’s most likely that these speculations remain what they are: rumours.
A more plausible theory, in turn, would be that “Edinburgh” is used in reference to the upcoming streaming service XCloud, set to be launched as a direct competitor to Google’s Stadia. Whichever the case, there are definitely quite a few exciting developments ahead.
Wait, wasn’t Lockhart scrapped?
Although the cheaper, digital-only Xbox variant was all but cancelled last summer, references to it – and rumours about it – keep showing up around the web. Besides, Microsoft keeps referring to its upcoming console “family”, so it seems obvious that there will be more than one consoles in it.
According to the rumour mill, Xbox Series S (Lockhart) will be a console with hardware specs just below its big brother, the upcoming Xbox Series X, with a friendlier price tag and no disk, a bit like the Xbox One S all-digital console was. It will reportedly have a faster CPU than any other console, Microsoft or otherwise, currently on the market, with performance similar to Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro. If and when the console is released, it will serve as a digital gateway for Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass and XCloud services.
