Microsoft is said to be working on a new piece of hardware for Xbox consoles that could be revealed in the coming months.
During a new episode of The XboxEra Podcast earlier today, co-founder and co-host Nick “Shpeshal Nick” Baker teased that “Xbox currently has some hardware to show that falls in a different bucket than what people are probably expecting.”
He added that the hardware could be revealed later in 2022 but considering factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and global semiconductor shortages, Microsoft may as well push the announcement into 2023.
The mysterious hardware is probably related to the recent discovery of something codenamed Xbox Keystone, which many fans took as an upcoming Xbox Series console refresh just like how Xbox Durango and Xbox Scarlett were codenames for Xbox One and Xbox Series X before their official announcements.
Xbox Keystone is most likely not a console refresh, which also ties in with Shpeshal Nick mentioning the new Xbox hardware to be different from what people are expecting. While higher-end Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles will eventually see the light of day, those upgrades are unlikely to happen within the first couple of years of launch.
The rumored hardware could possibly be a new peripheral or accessory. Take note that Microsoft is planning to bring Xbox Game Pass to television screens through the magic of cloud streaming. Xbox Keystone might hence possibly be a dongle-sized device that users can connect to their television sets to stream Xbox games with the help of Xbox Cloud Gaming.
That Xbox streaming stick remains to be revealed but has been in the works since last year. It is excepted to be affordable with a price tag that could be under $100.
Microsoft will hopefully announce Xbox Keystone within 2022 to put growing speculations to rest.
