It was a big week for Xbox this week, good and bad. In good news, Xbox had a great showing at the Tokyo Games Show and they got provisional approval from the CMA to acquire Activision Blizzard. On the flip side, Xbox accidentally leaked a large amount of internal documents by having unredacted emails and presentations attached to PDFs it sent as part of the court case with the FTC. These emails and presentations revealed future plans for a hardware refresh, the next generation Xbox, acquisition ideas, and some Bethesda games that were in the works at the time the documents were created. While many of the documents are several years old, the information is still interesting to dive into and could still be a roadmap of things to come.
Hardware was a big part of this leak and it touched on several big additions to this current generation and even dabbled in the future, next generation of consoles. For this current generation, a hardware refresh for both the Xbox Series X and Series S was revealed. Though the Series S refresh, codename Ellewood, was only mentioned as a possibility; there was a lot more detail around Brooklin, the Xbox Series X refresh. Brooklin is a cylindrical console with no disc drive, 2 TB of internal storage, improved wifi and bluetooth, and better energy efficiency. It’s a nifty possibility that may or may not get released in its current Fall 2024 timeframe. Also announced was a new Xbox Controller called Sebile with haptic feedback, an accelerometer gyro, quieter buttons, modular thumbsticks, a rechargeable and swappable battery, and the ability to wake just by being picked up. The next gen hardware conversation is all about a hybrid console with local computing power and the ability to leverage even more power in the cloud for a seamless, powerful experience that’s coming sometime in 2028.
Beyond hardware plans, Xbox also leaked acquisition ideas and game releases. Not surprisingly, Microsoft has mused on acquiring several different big names, including WB Games and even Nintendo. These plans appear to be more wishlist or brainstorming ideas more than anything else, but are interesting conversations nonetheless. More interesting are some of the Bethesda projects that were in the works at the time and might still be in the works now. That includes things like remasters of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3, Dishonored 3, and a new Doom game. It also showed that Elder Scrolls VI isn’t expected until at least 2026, which is not surprising at all but it is a good confirmation of how far out that game still is.
Xbox and Microsoft have only themselves to blame for this leak and have done well accepting it and speaking to it. They’ve made sure to reiterate numerous times that these plans are several years old and much has changed since then. Even with that in mind, it shows the kinds of conversations that Xbox is having and what some next steps could look like. Microsoft and Xbox will unveil those plans in their own time and all we can do is wait excitedly to see what comes to fruition and what ultimately got let go.
Image from: Xbox
