As Xbox sales slump around the world Microsoft is moving to try and revitalise their struggling console with a major upgrade and a new mini model tipped to be announced at the upcoming E3 2016 Expo.
In Europe Sony with their popular Playstation console has stripped market share away from the struggling Xbox with the Company now holding over 70% of the console gaming market.
Things are so bad that Microsoft has stopped issuing sales numbers for their struggling console.
Brad Sams, a Microsoft podcaster and blogger, held a YouTube livestream last night in which he claimed Xbox will announce a significantly smaller Xbox One console during next month’s entertainment expo
He also said that Microsoft is working on a more significant hardware upgrade set for release next year.
During the livestream, Sams said “”the Xbox mini is a real thing.”
No further details were discussed, but The Verge’s Tom Warren has reported (via GameSpot) that the ‘Xbox One Slim’ will be as much as 40% smaller than the original console.
Sams goes on to state his sources believe a more significant Xbox One upgrade is also in development, but isn’t due for release until 2017.
Kotaku has run a separate story supporting both of Sams’ claims. That report also claims the 2017 Xbox will be ‘theoretically capable’ of offering Oculus Rift support, with Microsoft currently in talks with Oculus.
But Sams also goes on to note that Microsoft is also working on Xbox streaming boxes, also set to be revealed next month, much like the Amazon Fire Stick. However, these devices won’t be designed to play AAA titles, but be more aligned with an Apple TV and play less-intensive titles.
“They’re going to have two devices, it’s going to be one [for] super streamers, think a Roku style device, and then another device that’s going to have more features,” Sams said.
“What I think the differentiation between these two devices are, I’d imagine the smaller devices will be for streaming only . but the other device I honestly think is where they’re going to start using App leverage. I could see this device sitting in the cabinet and being able to play Windows Store games.”
These streaming devices could cost anywhere from $100-175, according to Sams.
