With Sony’s latest worst-kept secret (the PlayStation 4) now mostly out of the bag, all eyes are turning to Microsoft for an official reveal of their next generation Xbox (dubbed the Xbox 720). So far, the company has not officially confirmed when that announcement will be, however, the industry rumor mill is suggesting that it could come as soon as this April.
According to a CVG report, a “growing number of [unnamed] developers and other industry professionals” (including some Sony employees) are claiming that Microsoft is planning for an April event. Additionally, one of these mystery video game industry insiders, who is a “senior Sony official”, stated that the PlayStation 4 reveal had “at first caught Microsoft off-guard”. That person then added, “We definitely ruffled some feathers”.
Backing up claims of an incoming Microsoft Xbox 720 showcase event is the February 21, 2013 domain registration of Xboxevent.com by Eventcore (formally known as U.S. Techs), as discovered by NeoGAF user “ekim”. The company specializes in planning and carrying out large scale meetings/events, and is the same partner that Microsoft used for their E3 2012 media registration and an upcoming Hosting Summit this May.
Considering Eventcore (U.S. Techs) only registers domains for events they are working with, the new Xboxevent site would indicate that a Microsoft media briefing on the Xbox 720 is coming sooner rather than later.
This also just makes common sense, as there have been no indications that Microsoft is intending to sit back and let Sony and Nintendo run away with the next generation console race — not to mention the countless rumors that have all pointing towards a 2013 launch for the unannounced Xbox 720.
We will keep an eye out for any official confirmation by Microsoft of an upcoming Xbox 720 reveal event, and let you know as soon as they give the high sign. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts on what the company needs to do during such an event to keep ahead of Sony’s PlayStation 4 debut.