Citing “people familiar with the company’s plans”, Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft intends to launch the next generation Xbox console, dubbed the Xbox 720, in time for the holiday 2013 shopping season.
According to the report, Microsoft is considering announcing the Xbox 720 hardware at their own event — which would allow them to dedicate the entire show to the new console — but has not ruled out a possible E3 reveal in June 2013. Either way, the unnamed sources place the next-gen Xbox launch in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas sales.
Bloomberg’s release window squares with two other recent reports. The first came from UK-based magazine Xbox World which also reveals several unconfirmed details about the Xbox 720. The second report, from The Verge, states that Microsoft is planning to release a set-top box called Xbox TV during holiday 2013 as part of a “two-SKU next generation Xbox strategy”.
Officially, none of this amounts to a confirmation that Microsoft is gearing up to launch their next Xbox. With that said, the old saying “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” seems to apply nicely to this situation, as there has certainly been a lot of next generation smoke bellowing up around the video game industry lately.
Source: Bloomberg