Update (Tue 9th Jun, 2020 00:25 BST): GM of Xbox Games Marketing Aaron Greenberg has commented on this, stating that the company has "not pushed anything back":
"We have not pushed anything back, our plan remains to have our next digital show in July and teams are working hard on that."
At the time of writing, Greenberg hasn't talked more about whether to still expect something in June, as the company hadn't revealed anything specific ahead of time. In response, VentureBeat's Jeff Grubb noted that June's event "wasn't announced, so I think [this statement] is completely fair of them to say."
Original story (Mon 8th Jun, 2020 20:45 BST): Last month, Bloomberg noted that Microsoft was planning to "highlight the Xbox platform and services" in a June event, with Xbox exec Aaron Greenberg suggesting this month would be "done differently than an Inside Xbox show." But according to a new rumour, it might have been delayed.
This is coming from VentureBeat's Jeff Grubb, who explains that Microsoft was planning to show off the much-rumoured Xbox Lockhart, but has pushed the event back until August for now:
"One notable move is Microsoft’s unannounced June Xbox event. The company was aiming to show off the long-rumored, more-affordable Xbox Lockhart around June 9. But it pushed those plans all the way to August — at least for now. Microsoft doesn’t want to go before Sony’s Thursday event."
This is all to be taken with a pinch of salt, but it's worth noting that known insider Grubb has proven accurate with various information in the past. However, he did also admit that Xbox "might do something else in June," or could even bring back the event once Sony's PS5 digital showcase is out of the way this Thursday.
We should also mention that this rumour isn't related to Microsoft's big first-party games event in July - Grubb hasn't said anything about that one, so we're assuming it's still very much on the way.
Do you think Microsoft will reveal the Xbox Lockhart this month? Share your predictions in the comments.
[source venturebeat.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 14
I’ll say this again the Lockehart is dependent on Sony’s price point. Sony goes high, the Lockehart will stay hidden for while, Sony goes low, the Lockehart will show up to undercut them. Sony supposedly isn’t in showing price now until later in the year ergo they postpone.
So a reveal which was never announced might have been delayed. Well at this point Lockhart is the worst kept secret in gaming but who is it aimed at? It would have to be significantly cheaper than Series X or PS5 to attract many at launch and will anyone see it as a major upgrade to the Xbox One X? I kind of feel that it probably should be kept under wraps until early next year when next gen has a foothold
From Aaron Greenberg, perhaps it's not, who knows
https://twitter.com/aarongreenberg/status/1270106003854340097?s=19
@carlos82 Honestly, even if it’s only 50 cheaper, it’s going to attract parents more. Although, I suspect it’s a 300 USD machine.
Look at the Switch Lite, people asked what’s the point of it. But it sells. People severely underestimate the parental price factor. Especially, post Covid economy
@mousieone doubtful. You can’t manufacture that stuff and have it ready for launch only to keep it on a warehouse. It’s not like they can manufacture enough units for a launch in ~4 months.
I honestly hope Lockhart is just a rumor. I would prefer if there as no “slow” next gen console hurting the design of game’s releases 3 years from now.
@Tharsman but if you reused many of the same parts in the Series X, it would be possible. Consider that the SAD Edition was exactly the same as the S, minus a few parts. Literally, it had completely empty side weighted down.
Aaron has handled the Inside Xbox 20/20 thing terribly so far. I do want to paste a paragraph directly from the Xbox 20/20 website that is related to this.
Xbox 20/20
Starting with the May 7 episode of Inside Xbox, we will be showcasing what happens next in the world of Xbox, every month, which is why we’re calling it “Xbox 20/20.” These monthly moments will take place throughout the rest of the year and will be a way for us to engage, connect and celebrate with you about what’s in store for the next generation of gaming, including what’s next for Xbox Series X, Xbox Game Studios, Xbox Game Pass and Project xCloud. Every month will bring something different. Stay tuned to Xbox Wire for more details.
It specifically says "every month". Make what you will of that.
@Tharsman Lockhart is pretty much confirmed.
@mousieone the difference with this would be parents faced with an Xbox One S, Xbox One X, Xbox Series S and Xbox series X. I get the appeal of one but I think it just confuses the message at launch
It would make more sense to let Sony make the first move, this go around. That way, MS can undercut them on price. Then again, Sony tried that with Vita when Nintendo announced 3DS. We know that the sticker price of Vita looked great until memory cards were factored in. Sony never recovered from that, even with lowered memory card prices.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that hardware makers never know what might cause their consoles to sink or swim.
@carlos82 Well they’ve been pushing to get the stock of the X low in retail stores, and that’s been helped from Covid. By holiday, I’m not sure how easy finding an X will be. I’d assume, they do the same for a cheaper model. Plus MS offers payment plans, so again I’m not sure the message is as confusing as people make it seem. Big chains like Walmart are probably only going to carry two skus. Which at the moment is going to be the Xbox One S and the Series X. Just like Sony will be PS4/PS5. It’s conceivable to swap the S out with a series S. Thus confusion issue solved.
@Menchi The June 20/20 event is likely a different format, so like a Xbox Wire article.
@Grumblevolcano Possibly. Execs love their semantics.
If MS truly wants to compete this gen, they have to go very low and eat losses, hope GamePass covers those losses.
I say the XSX should launch at $400, a price Sony will just not be able to match.
If they insist on launching a cheaper “Lockhart model”, that should launch at a max cost of $300.
Thought: what if the point of the Lockhart is not to offer a cheap Series X, but an even faster replacement to the One X? Difference would be, for one, that such a device might not run games that don’t run on One X, like any first party launched 2+ years from now.
It would go in hand with rumors that MS plans to entirely halt production of OneX (usually prev gens keep being manufactured for at least a year.)
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