A smaller one and a more powerful one
The Xbox One has had a rough time, and not just in Japan. Once upon a time the 360 was the first choice for a lot of publisher-led exclusivity deals, the Xbox Live Arcade storefront was thriving, and Microsoft was making money hand-over-fist with Gold subscriptions, while Sony was just toying with the idea of charging for multiplayer.
But after the infamous anti-consumer DRM snafu, it was never the same. Some may say rightfully so, but with the strides Microsoft has made (like backward compatibility), the 180 degree turn on the business plan is mostly a distant memory. Maybe two more Xbox One models will fix all that?
According to Kotaku, who has confirmed the situation with multiple sources, Microsoft is planning a “smaller” model, and a “more powerful” model. The latter is codenamed “Scorpio,” and is said to launch sometime in 2017 with a more powerful GPU (with support for 4K resolution), with potential Oculus Rift support (this makes sense, as they were heavily involved with the Rift’s launch). The former will be a “Slim” of sorts, released by the end of 2016, and will reportedly sport a 2TB HDD and a smaller form factor.
This is all a part of “Project Helix,” which will make an even more concerted effort to merge the Windows and Xbox platforms. Evidently future games will basically needto adhere to this dual platform standard — cool, cool. The bad news? They are rumored to be moving towards a more “incremental” model, which would mean more hardware revisions (and possibly no Xbox One 2), and different compatibility options depending on how far along the line you were. Take it all with a grain of salt, but it’s something that’s being talked about according to those sources.
Between this and the rumored PlayStation Neo, this could one reallyexpensive upcoming generation. Maybe people will get fed up with it and move to the possibly cheaper NX? Only time will tell. All I know is if Microsoft releases aBattletoadsScorpio exclusive and Sony releases Bloodborne 2as a Neo exclusive I will be pissed.
Sources: Smaller Xbox One Coming This Year, More Powerful Xbox One In 2017 [Kotaku]