Since Microsoft surprised fans back in December at The Game Awards with its Xbox Series X next generation console reveal, rumors continued to swirl about a second version of the console. Much of the speculation came from the numerous codenames that Microsoft had been using for its hardware including Anaconda, which is the current Series X, and a different version codenamed Lockhart. While Microsoft continues to be silent on this topic, a new report may have revealed upcoming plans for the Xbox Series S.
While most companies planned to go big at E3 this year with next gen reveals, plans were forced to change when the annual event was cancelled due to the current global pandemic. According to VentureBeat's Jeff Grubb, Microsoft originally planned to hold an event in June in order to finally show off the long rumored Lockhart console. However, with Sony hosting its own PS5 showcase event back on July 11, many suspect that the decision was made to postpone the reveal all the way to August to avoid any sort of comparisons.
Following the delay discussion, Xbox marketing exec Aaron Greenberg released a carefully worded response denying that anything had been pushed back and that the companies next major reveal was still set for July. Many expected some sort of announcement in June based off Greenberg's own admission that the May Xbox 20/20 reveal set some wrong expectations due to a lack of gameplay and that June news would be done differently. So far this month, June has been fairly quiet with only recaps of news like Smart Delivery, games that are optimized for Xbox Series X, and other past announcements.
Eurogamer has since jumped on the Xbox Series S train by confirming with sources close to the situation that a while back, Microsoft had planned to show off the cost-effective console, likely at E3 2020. While plans have no doubt been forced to change, there's been mounting evidence that the Xbox Series S, formerly known as Lockhart, is a real device. Dataminers leaked documents online that indicate Series X and Lockhart make up the Xbox Scarlett family of consoles. Reporter Tom Warren has also indicated that the Lockhart console may actually have a CPU that runs as fast as the Series X, even if the GPU and RAM aren't as powerful.
Either way, fans have a little while to wait as Microsoft has reserved July for first party software. The big standout title for most is Halo: Infinite, a game which has flown incredibly far under the radar since last E3. Recent rumors indicate that the game is bringing back a lesser known enemy faction and that it may also share a feature with God of War, a big PS4 exclusive. Outside of that, fans are also hoping to finally see what studios like The Initiative have been working on as well as a return for long dormant franchises like Fable and Perfect Dark.
Sources: Eurogamer (via VentureBeat)