Microsoft Registers 'Xbox Series' Trademark, Will Lockhart Be Revealed Soon?

Yeah Sony kinda beat them to the punch on the second console. They might wanna get on that.

@Royalblues they honestly don’t need that at all. If the Series X costs as much, or less, as the diskless PS5, there is zero reason for sales to be undermined.

The XBox SAD also didn’t sell that well. It’s price was cut to liquidate and never restocked anywhere. It would be weird for them to see that as a reason to push further to any kind of diskless future just yet.

Microsoft could deliver a nasty one-two punch of Sony’s own medicine if they come out with a $399 Series X price and make fun of the diskless PS5 users not being able to buy used games or borrow games. Especially if the disk based version costs $599

@Tharsman I really hope that Series X undercuts the disc-less PS5. I want Xbox to regain its 360 days popularity. They have worked so much to right all the wrongs of this generation and yet people don't give them enough credit. I wish Phil Spencer and his team to start a fresh new generation like they deserve and to earn people's trust back.

@TrueAssassin86x exactly, Microsoft can easily make fun of that IF they opt to not release a diskless lockheart.

@Tharsman

I completely agree. At this point, I would shelve the Series S & if they can release the Series X at $399......

🎤 drop. Sony’s plans would be a ruined.

@BlueOcean the problem is, honestly, that they [xbox] have not done enough.

Yes, it’s (now and later) the best platform to run multi-plat games.
Yes, they respect my purchases a lot more than Sony does by enhancing those game’s over generations and BC.
They even try to protect people that buy the console on its last year so they don’t miss out on first party games.

But the most important thing has not been done yet: narratively impressive games with fantastic single target story arcs that are exclusive to the console.

Gears and Halo need to evolve the way God of War and Uncharted 4 evolved.

The console needs to at least secure, if not develop, JRPGs to compete with the likes of Persona (does MS even have a studio in Japan? Because Sony sure has studios in the west.)

And the machine still needs some solid that compete with Spider Man, TLOU, Ghost of Tsushima, and Horizon.

When the PS3 was having their rear handed to them by the 360, Sony went HARD on impressive first party game. Uncharted and TLOU. I’m kinda guessing MS has been working on that content issue but primarily for the Series X launch. As much as Sony is disappointing me with (IMO) a lackluster PS5 message, they are closing the PS4 generation with the insane one-two punch of TLOU2 and Ghosts of Tsushima.

What was the last XBox one exclusive even? Crackdown 3 and Gears 5? Ori? I mean Ori looks like a masterpiece, and I would love to see the series continue, but 2D games are no longer big marketing material.

@KelticDevil I would not say ruined, but it would become a new truly competitive generation, where XBox likely dominates the west, Sony dominates Asia, and Europe becomes a competitive battleground.

@Tharsman to be fair Series X is launching with a JRPG, Yakuza like a Dragon. And yes, it will be on the PS4 but the enhanced version does actually appear to be Series X only. Now what those extras are they didn’t say but The fact that it’s their launch title alongside Halo Infinite suggests to me that’s a direction they are exploring.

@Royalblues technically Sony started it with the PSP Go 😂

@Royalblues I still don’t see how that makes a difference IF the XSX ends up costing the same or less than the 5AD (just realized they 5 can be read as an S...)

The only one that would have a horse in that conversation, if the pricing is well aligned, would just be developers that want to kill temporary game ownership (rentals, lending, used game sales/purchases, and I don’t mean GameStop I mean eBay.)

Did, in any way, the SAD have a consumer advantage over the S, other than price? It didn’t play BluRays, could not play existing physical libraries, much less BC libraries from 360 or OG XB. It wasn’t even smaller (nor is the 5AD, the balancing to keep it standing still makes it take the same space where ever it’s placed.)

So other than consumer unfriendly reasons, I don’t see how being part of that conversation helps MS at all.

@mousieone like you said: it’s a JRPG that plays in the PS4 and of course PS5 via BC. If someone is buying a PS5 for multi plant games, they already are buying based on “where do these game’s look best?”

@Tharsman normally I can make out the meeting, and I’m on a phone to, but I’m this case “bony”?

@mousieone my phone mistyped “Buying” as “bony” for some reason, thought I deleted it after I typed it again... but nope.

@zane547 Phil Spencer himself has already stated the battle will demand hardware cost to be cheap. Let’s make not mistake, it’s not a charity, they want people to subscribe to GamePass. A GamePass subscriber that keeps their account active for 2 years and a $400 console makes them more money over those two years alone than selling the console for $600.

Game pass is an absurd value for players too, so the lure to subscribe is very high.

I also work on IT, on a ridiculously large network. MS has changed drastically how they opt to do their business. They no longer want to sell you Office licenses every few years, regardless if you are a home user or a corporate user. They want to charge you a steady monthly fee and let you get all free upgrades.

As someone that works closely with people inside MS corporate, they no longer want to make the entry point on any of their products a barrier of entry. They want to just keep servicing you for as long as possible on a steady revenue stream.

This is why I feel very confident (not sure) that the XSX price will make Sony go pale.

@Tharsman Of course I'm counting on the new studios and projects.

I think Series S will be the same price as discless PS5 with Microsoft trying to give the edge to Series S via free Game Pass for a certain amount of time.

@Grumblevolcano Series S less powerful and same price as PS5 Digital Edition is unlikely.

@Royalblues PS 5AD, hilarious like the sharing physical games video that Sony made. Not sure it's the same on PS 5AD.

Reading this discussion about Series S (Lockhart) my opinion is that Series S should be released if it's significantly smaller and cheaper than Series X and white to make it stand out but in any case Series X should be the same price or cheaper than PS 5AD. A white cube that is cheaper than PS 5AD should be a winner in the casual market.

@zane547 Sony is already countering GamePass, but very very poorly. PlayStation Now has transformed over time into something more GamePass-like, at least for select PS4 titles. They still are stubborn on their ways and just won’t add first party titles day one on their service.

Despite being around longer, and having a bigger user base, they just have 2.2 million users while GamePass just celebrated 10 million.

As for Windows license, I can’t say exactly but my shop is so large we have always had one of those Microsoft parter enterprise programs where we pay a yearly fee based on seats.

@BlueOcean I’m optimistic of the Series X generation, hopefully, getting some of those fresh titles XBox needs. Just frustrating that Mattrick settup MS to really too much on third parties, and changing that has taken too much time, to the point where this XBox One has been a near net zero gain on the IP side.

“ Series X should be the same price or cheaper than PS 5AD. A white cube that is cheaper than PS 5AD should be a winner commercially.”

Series S should be a purple cube with a handle on the back 🙃

@Tharsman Microsoft has paid a very high price for allowing Don Mattrick to be in control. Now it's the time to leave all that behind!

They say that Microsoft wants to acquire a Japanese studio now and if you look at the new studios they got, most of them are associated with single-player games. I'm a bit concerned about a few of them. Was Compulsion Games a good choice? Will Undead Labs increase their quality? Other studios are like very indie (Double Fine) and others are considered top-quality: Obsidian, Inxile... The Initiative seems like the best idea, creating a new AAA studio for top-tier narrative games. I think that Microsoft is doing the right thing but game development takes time.

"Series S should be a purple cube with a handle on the back".

Funnily, I got the black GameCube but no, sorry, Series S needs to be white. No purple. No black.

@Tharsman yeah well I meant meaning and not meeting. Auto-correct has its own mind.

@BlueOcean I got both colors of GameCube 😝

(I love to hoard my friends legacy gaming junk.)

This just crossed my mind while reading the “Optimized For Series X” webpage:

MS is working hard at making it clear games will run better on the Series X. The badge that will be on game boxes does not say “Optimized For XBox Series”, it says “Series X”

Suddenly introducing any other console at launch called Series S (or anything else) will be extremely confusing for everyone.

My guess is that the trademark is held for the future, a “pro” mid gen console could be named “Series Y”, for example.

What is lockheart under this thought process? Simply the final revision to the XBox One, likely meant to replace either the One X or the One S. Think XBox 360 E, that happened to be released the same year as the XBox One.

Funny enough, the mid-generation 360 was also called S.

XBox 360 (2005)
XBox 360 S (2010)
XBox 360 E (2013)

XBox One (2013)
XBox One S (2016)
XBox One E (2020, Lockheart?)

XBox Series X (2020)
XBox Series Y (2023 or ‘24?)