In the video games industry, things move quickly. For example, two years after Nintendo released the Wii, it immediately started working on the successor, which would then become the Wii U. Microsoft is no different.
The company released its flagship console, the 4K-capable Xbox One X, just last year. However, it's currently working on the successor to that, and new reports say it now has an official codename: Anaconda.
The Next-Generation Xbox
The Xbox One X is Microsoft's most powerful console yet, offering unprecedented 4K graphics and near hiccup-free system performance. But it has been sluggish in terms of sales, limping behind Sony's PlayStation 4 throughout the current generation.
To try and remedy this, Microsoft has been performing a number of tune-ups. For instance, it's been expanding its portfolio of exclusive content to try luring players into its turf, especially those who would normally pick a PS4 or a Nintendo Switch over Microsoft's home console.
For hardware, Microsoft also has big plans. First reported by Thurrott in November, the company is allegedly building a disc-less Xbox One set to launch early next year. A disc-to-digital program is also planned so gamers can convert their physical discs into digital formats. This won't be Microsoft's mainline Xbox platform, however. That's Anaconda.
Xbox Anaconda
According to Windows Central reporter Jez Corden, citing "our sources," there are two consoles currently in development. One is a cheaper Xbox One S-style console that would serve as the successor to the Xbox One S, and the other is a more powerful Xbox One X-style console to succeed the Xbox One X. The codename for the former is apparently "Lockhart," and the codename for the latter is "Anaconda."
Anaconda will be the more powerful and more expensive of the two, and would allegedly provide a "cutting-edge console gaming experience." Microsoft is rumored to be developing technology that would dramatically decrease loading times, and SSD storage might be involved.
At the moment, there aren't a lot of details surrounding Microsoft's successor to the Xbox One X, only that it's being worked on. These things take time, of course, especially if the company wants its forthcoming platform to outpace its current one, which in itself is already pretty excellent. Still, there's always room for improvement in the console landscape, and that alone should make Microsoft fans and gamers in general pretty excited for what's to come.
What are your expectations for the next-generation Xbox? Feel free to sound them off in comments section below!
