We’ve been hearing from various different sources and tech sites around the web that Microsoft may, or may not be working on bringing the Xbox 360’s replacement to the market as soon as some time during 2012. We weren’t really sure about that here at Redmond Pie, especially considering Microsoft’s console was expected to go on for a little while longer than that.
During an interview with CNET, a member of the Xbox team at Microsoft confirmed reports that the next game console to come out of Redmond would actually arrive twelve months later than initial rumors suggested, meaning 2013 could be the year we all upgrade.
Just as we would expect, Microsoft itself refused to comment on claims that the next Xbox will go on sale in 2013, but with the confirmation coming from a member of the team that is supposedly working on it, we’re pretty inclined to go along with it.
The game developer Web site Develop recently pegged the launch of the next console for 2013, something a source on the Xbox team confirmed. Microsoft declined to comment on the timing of the next Xbox.
This new timescale makes much more sense to us. Microsoft is still seeing bumper sales of its Xbox 360 console, and with Sony’s PlayStation 4 not yet ready, or even tentatively spoken about in the gaming press, Microsoft should not see any reason to hurry a new console out to market.
There are still some big games in development that will be made available on the Xbox 360 platform, with a new Grand Theft Auto game slated for release at some point next year. Developers would need plenty of lead time if Microsoft was going to change the hardware that games would be played on, and Microsoft is not likely to want to pull the rug out from underneath a machine that is not only selling extremely well considering it is six years old, but a machine that is also currently sitting pretty at the top of the sales charts. Nintendo’s Wii is seeing price cuts left and right, and Sony’s PlayStation 3 is still suffering from PSN outages and a relatively high price when compared to the competition.
We’re still super excited to see how Microsoft plans to outdo its wildly successful Xbox 360 in 2013, though.
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