Codenamed Lockhart, the less powerful next-gen Xbox is expected to cater to 1080p or 1440p gaming.
There is no official information about the console.
Devkit leaks suggest the existence of Lockhart.
If information circulating the internet is to be believed, then we could see the much rumoured less powerful Xbox Series S also known as Lockhart revealed in August 2020. According to the source, “The company was aiming to show off the long-rumoured, more-affordable Xbox Lockhart around June 9. But it pushed those plans all the way to August — at least for now”. So it looks like Microsoft is waiting to showcase the new console, but when Sony held its PS5 reveal event, the company showed off the design of the PS5 along with an all-digital version of the console.
According to Tom Warren from the Verge, “I’ve been reporting on Xbox Lockhart having a slightly underclocked CPU, but I now believe it’s the same speed as Series X. Just different GPU frequencies and CU counts”. So if the CPU is the same, then we can presume that the CPU bottleneck will not be an issue for developers. However, the lower CU counts and GPU frequency means that the console could take a hit on resolution but still deliver the same performance with games. This is quite the different approach when compared to Sony who is giving users the same hardware under the hood, with the only difference being the presence/absence of a Blu-ray drive.
"Obviously, in the name 'Series X,' it gives us the freedom to do other things with that name so that we can create descriptors when we need to," Xbox head Phil Spencer said in December 2019 to Gamespot when the Xbox Series X was first unveiled.
Information about the Lockhart console was also revealed in leaked Microsoft documents. The documents read, “Welcome to the June 2020 Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK) release. You can use the GDK to develop games that can be certified and approved for release on Windows 10 PCs, Xbox One Consoles, and Project Scarlett consoles. In fact, you can target all those devices using a shared codebase”.
Microsoft is expected to showcase its first-party games at an event in July. We are looking forward to getting a look at gameplay from titles like Hellblade: Senua’s Saga, Halo Infinite and many more.
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Sameer Mitha
Sameer Mitha lives for gaming and technology is his muse. When he isn’t busy playing with gadgets or video games he delves into the world of fantasy novels. View Full Profile
