Xbox Series S (or Project Lockhart) could be a cheaper, digital-only alternative to the Xbox Series X. Here’s everything we know so far about the other new Xbox.
The Xbox Series S (codenamed ‘Project Lockhart’) is the rumored cheaper, digital-only alternative to the Xbox Series X. That’s right: it looks like Microsoft will be releasing not one but two next-gen consoles this year. Whether the new Xbox will actually be called the Xbox Series S is up for debate, but it shouldn’t be long until Microsoft gives us an official answer: reports have suggested that Microsoft will reveal this digital-only next-gen console sometime in August. There has been speculation for some time that Microsoft is working on a lower-cost next-gen Xbox console, to sit just below the high-end Xbox Series X. This disc-less, next-gen Xbox is rumored to be substantially more powerful than the (now discontinued) Xbox One S All-Digital console, and will allegedly come with both a solid-state hard drive and a faster CPU than any current game console – with developers reportedly likening its performance to that of the PS4 Pro. While Microsoft hasn’t confirmed this console is in the works, the company has specified that the Xbox Series X will not be the only next-gen console, and instead will belong to a family – much like the Xbox One family of consoles. To add some grain to the ol’ rumor mill, Twitter user @zakk_exe claims to have bought a new Xbox Series S Controller with packaging clearly denoting the new console. The veracity of the images has yet to be determined but, from the looks of things, it looks like we could see a new disc-less Xbox console in the near future. Interested to know more? Here’s everything we know about the Xbox Series S. As Microsoft hasn’t confirmed Xbox Series S (Project Lockhart) is actually in the works, it’s hard to pin down exactly when we might see this digital-only next-gen console. However, it looks like an Xbox Series S announcement is imminent. Back in April, Windows Central claimed the digital next-gen console had already entered home testing, allowing Xbox employees to get their hands on the system, with the publication suggesting that we could hear more about the console sometime soon. More recently, two separate sources say Microsoft is likely to do a full reveal of the console in August. A report by Eurogamer, which echoed the findings of an earlier VentureBeat story, claims that the Xbox Series X was first scheduled to be revealed in June before being pushed back to a separate event in August. While Eurogamer refers to this console as the Xbox Series S, VentureBeat refers to it as Xbox Lockhart. If that’s true, we’ll see the Xbox Series S sooner rather than later, possibly even launching alongside the Xbox Series X later this year – similar to Sony releasing both a PS5 standard edition and digital edition alongside each other. Without confirmation from Microsoft, we can only speculate about what the Xbox Series S price will be.
