In June, Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, a new iteration of the Xbox that the company said would “set a new bar for console power, speed and performance.” What Microsoft didn’t say is that it is also working on a lower-cost, disc-less version of Scarlett, code-named Lockhart, according to four people briefed on the company’s plans.
If those names sound familiar, that’s because they’ve been floating around for a while. The earliest rumors about Microsoft’s next-gen roadmap, circa 2018, suggested that Project Scarlett would consist of two Xbox models: the high-performance Anaconda and the lower-end Lockhart. In June, however, Microsoft announced that Scarlett was a single, high-end console, which led to speculation and then press reports that Lockhart had been canceled.
The important development is that when Microsoft finally shared official details on Project Scarlett at its recent E3 keynote in June, Xbox chief Phil Spencer didn’t mention a cheaper console at all. In fact, when he was subsequently asked about the possibility of multiple Project Scarlett consoles by Business Insider, he said, “Last year we said consoles, and we’ve shipped a console and we’ve now detailed another console. I think that’s plural.” Subsequent reporting by The Verge suggested Microsoft scrapped plans for Lockhart several weeks before it announced Project Scarlett at E3.
Returning to today’s report, it now seems Microsoft is once again at least considering a second version of Project Scarlett though that doesn’t mean the two devices will come out at the same time next holiday season.
The device Schreier details in his report also sounds like the more traditional console that was a feature of later reports related to Lockhart. According to the developers he spoke to, they think of the console as the successor to the Xbox One S (as opposed to the console we know is coming at the end of next year, which they see succeeding the Xbox One X). One developer told Schreier Lockhart features similar specs to the PlayStation 4 Pro, though it reportedly includes a solid-state drive and a faster processor than any current generation console. Schreier adds Microsoft aims for the console to render most games at 1440p and 60 frames per second real-world performance may vary, however.
Importantly, Schreier doesn’t say how much the console will cost, nor when Microsoft will release it. As usual with these types of reports, remember that things change if the mini-history lesson didn’t make that clear already. Until Microsoft announces something, there’s no guarantee that we’ll see a more affordable version of Project Scarlett.
