Xbox leak: new Xbox Series X design, next-gen in 2028, and more – The Verge

Microsoft addresses the huge Xbox leaks: here’s Phil Spencer’s full memo

2023-09-19T16:56:23-04:00

Xbox chief Phil Spencer has just emailed Microsoft employees about the massive Xbox leak that happened earlier today. In the internal memo, obtained by The Verge, Spencer says Microsoft's Xbox plans "were unintentionally disclosed" as part of the FTC v. Microsoft case. Documents revealed a lot: a disc-less Series X redesign, a 2028 Xbox that could deliver "cloud hybrid games," a new Xbox controller, unannounced Bethesda games, and even discussions about acquiring Nintendo.

Spencer hints that Microsoft's plans may have changed, particularly as some documents were from last year, but others were from years prior. "I know this is disappointing …

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Microsoft’s new Xbox controller borrows great ideas from Stadia, Steam, and Sony

2023-09-19T16:12:49-04:00

Microsoft’s new core gamepad, codenamed Sebile, may become the new default Xbox gamepad in May 2024. | Image via court documents, text removed by The Verge

New Xbox for 2024! New hybrid Xbox for 2028! But can we just appreciate Microsoft's leaked Sebile controller for a sec?

The $70 pad could arrive in 2024 chock-full of the best parts of Sony's DualSense, Valve's Steam Controller, Google Stadia, and - here's hoping - 8BitDo.

Obviously, it's taking the Sony DualSense's "precision haptic feedback."

Right, here's hoping! It's the thing I'm most excited about because it seriously does add a new dimension to some of Sony's games, which just aren't the same when you take it away.

Check out our DualSense X-ray below, versus this one of an Xbox pad, to see the difference in their haptic motors:

…

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Microsoft leaked its own Xbox documents, court says

2023-09-19T14:28:26-04:00

Microsoft is responsible for the huge trove of leaked documents that revealed things like a new disc-less Xbox Series X design, unannounced games from Bethesda, and executive musings about buying Nintendo, according to a new filing from the FTC v. Microsoft judge on Tuesday.

In the filing, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley says that the court ordered the Federal Trade Commission and Microsoft to provide the court with "a secure cloud link" to trial exhibits with redactions that met the court's recent orders. Microsoft provided a link on September 14th, and the court uploaded the exhibits from there, Judge Corley says.

The parties in the case h …

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Read the full unredacted email where Microsoft reacts to Sony’s PS5 reveal

2023-09-19T13:12:03-04:00

Last night, the biggest Xbox leak in history revealed multiple new Xboxes, including plans for an ambitious hybrid Xbox that could arrive in 2028. It also revealed communications from Microsoft's top execs - including one conversation from a joyous Phil Spencer to CEO Satya Nadella about the just-announced Sony PlayStation 5.

That email is now available completely unredacted, so you can see just how confident Microsoft seemed in March 2020 right after the PS5 spec reveal.

According to an executive summary prepared by former Xbox CVP Elizabeth Hamren for Microsoft's Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and forwarded to Nadella, the company believed …

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Microsoft’s next Xbox, coming 2028, envisions hybrid computing

2023-09-19T03:58:36-04:00

Microsoft's new disc-less Xbox Series X is far from the only news that just leaked out of the FTC v. Microsoft case. The documents may also reveal Microsoft's far future plans for 2028 - by which the company believed it could achieve "full convergence" of its cloud gaming platform and physical hardware to deliver "cloud hybrid games."

"Our vision: develop a next generation hybrid game platform capable of leveraging the combined power of the client and cloud to deliver deeper immersion and entirely new classes of game experiences."

Those are the words on just one slide from a leaked presentation dubbed "The Next Generation of Gaming at Micr …

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Microsoft’s Phil Spencer says acquiring Nintendo would be ‘a career moment’

2023-09-19T03:43:01-04:00

Microsoft gaming CEO Phil Spencer.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer would really like to buy Nintendo someday. In an August 2020 email to two top Microsoft marketing executives, Spencer wrote that "Nintendo is THE prime asset for us in Gaming" and that "getting Nintendo would be a career moment and I honestly believe a good move for both companies."

The emails were revealed as part of a tranche of leaked documents from the FTC v. Microsoft lawsuit. One executive, Takeshi Numoto, asked Spencer and Chris Capossela in an email titled "random thought" about why Microsoft isn't finding acquisition targets like Nintendo a "more attractive" way to "increase our consumer exposure a …

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Microsoft documents leak new Bethesda games, including an Oblivion remaster

2023-09-19T03:10:07-04:00

A screenshot from the original Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. | Image: Bethesda Softworks

Before it was acquired by Microsoft, ZeniMax Media, the parent company of studios like Bethesda Game Studios and id Software, was working on remasters of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3, and a new entry in the Doom franchise, according to new documents revealed as part of FTC v. Microsoft. The games were included in a July 2020 Microsoft presentation about the then-potential ZeniMax acquisition.

Unannounced games in the presentation include:

The Oblivion remaster (originally set for fiscal year 2022)
Doom Year Zero and DLC (fiscal year 2023) and a second set of DLC (fiscal year 2024)
The Fallout 3 remaster (fiscal year 2024)
A sequel …

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This is Microsoft’s new disc-less Xbox Series X design with a lift-to-wake controller

2023-09-19T01:45:06-04:00

The planned ‘Brooklin’ Xbox Series X. | Image: FTC vs. Microsoft

Microsoft is planning to refresh its Xbox Series X console in 2024 with an all-new design and features. Codenamed Brooklin, the unannounced console refresh has been accidentally revealed in new FTC v. Microsoft documents this week.

The new Xbox Series X design looks a lot more cylindrical than the existing console and will ship without a disc drive. Internal confidential Microsoft documents reveal it has 2TB of storage (up from 1TB), a USB-C front port with power delivery, and an "all-new, more immersive controller."

The new controller, codenamed Sebile, is set to be announced early next year for $69.99 and will include an accelerometer wh …

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