Microsoft reportedly still planning 2 Xbox consoles

Microsoft confirmed at E3 last year that its next console, codenamed Project Scarlett, was in the works. It confirmed this year that the console will hit in late 2020. One rumor floating around on and off for the last couple of years has been that Microsoft will launch two Xbox consoles in this coming generation. A new report from Kotaku suggests that Microsoft's two-console vision is still on.

The early rumors said that Microsoft was working on two consoles: Anaconda and Lockhart. Microsoft only ever mentioned Project Scarlett, though, and never put forth the idea of a second, less-powerful system. This led many of us to believe that the idea had been scrapped. Instead of staggering its two consoles as it did with the Xbox One S and Xbox One X, sources say Microsoft will offer both systems to cover two different pricepoints.

According to Kotaku's sources, Anaconda is aiming for a 4K resolution and 60Hz framerate, while Lockhart will aim for 1440p/60. The lower-priced Lockhart will be discless in nature, similar to the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition console, with the focus on game downloads and streaming through Project xCloud. Sources say the console will use the same ultra-fast SSD planned for Anaconda, but will have processing power that the developer compares to the PlayStation 4 Pro but that is "faster than any current video game console."

We still have a year to wait

The hard details are still up in the air, of course. The exact processing power of either "Scarlett" Xbox-not to mention the PlayStation 5-is unknown, as is the pricing. Both companies have offered up vague details, like confirmation that both systems will feature hardware-accelerated ray-tracing technology and will run off SSDs rather than rotational hard drives. We would expect to see Anaconda and Lockhart appear at price points similar to the Xbox One X's $499 debut price and the $250 price of the Xbox One S, respectively, but that's pure conjecture.

After Sony's mic-drop PlayStation 4 pricing announcement back before the systems launched, we're betting on Microsoft pricing its consoles aggressively this time around. And then there's the most important question: After the Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox One X, what will this thing be called? Those answers are likely coming next spring. Until then, we can look for little leaks like this one to tide us over.

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