Microsoft Announces the Next-Gen Xbox, Currently Known as Project Scarlett

Microsoft just made it official: the next-gen Xbox is on its way.

The hardware mavens teased Project Scarlett at the end of today’s E3 press conference, with a suitably next-gen series of buzz words: 120 frames per second, 8K, a solid state drive, and more. Backwards compatibility with the three previous Xbox consoles was also hinted at. And it’ll launch with Halo Infinite, the latest in Microsoft’s top franchise. Expect it before the end of 2020, right around holiday time.

Microsoft clearly learned the lesson of the Xbox One’s muddled launch. Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s executive VP of gaming, announced that Project Scarlett will primarily focus on gaming, which is clearly a reaction to the Xbox One’s initial promotion as an all-in-one entertainment system. Turns out people mostly just want to play games on their videogame machines; who knew? Yeah, it’s important for them to be full of all the streaming apps and even play physical DVDs and Blu-rays for the collectors out there, but most Xbox fans aren’t looking for a voice-activated, motion-controlled set-top box that you plug your cable box into and everything.

We’ll no doubt know more about Project Scarlett before the week is up. E3 technically doesn’t even start until Tuesday, so yeah, expect more news coming up. For now though just watch Microsoft’s announcement trailer below, and get ready to make some more room in your entertainment center.