Amid all of the news from the action-packed Xbox E3 keynote and the subsequent interviews conducted by key staffers, we still have questions. Lots of them.
Like, when, if ever, will the rumoured Xbox Game Pass launch for Nintendo Switch happen? What will the new console currently dubbed ‘Project Scarlett’ be called? And with a shift to cloud-powered game streaming on the horizon, will Scarlett be the final Xbox console in the storied history of the platform?
Well, thanks to some fine work from gaming website Giant Bomb we’ve got some answers and, to be fair, some non-answers from the main man at Xbox, Phil Spencer.
Firstly, lets start with that name? Any chance the head of Xbox would be willing to let it slip ahead of next year’s release? Unfortunately not, but it’s mainly because Spencer says a decision hasn’t been made yet and Microsoft is pretty far from making one.
He said: “You ask me – you won’t – but what is the name? I honestly don’t know what the name is. We don’t even have a list of names. That’s not where we are yet.”
Related: Xbox 2 games
OK, with that out of the way, what about the future of the platform after Scarlett’s heyday has come and gone? When asked “will there be another box” after Scarlett? Spencer replied: “We’re not planning for Scarlett to be our last console. We’re continuing to invest in our hardware team.”
He went on: “The thing for us post-Scarlett is what is that next inflection point for experience that would actually be meaningful. Beyond [Scarlett] I don’t know what that is, but we’re not planning for not doing another console.”
"We're not planning for Scarlett to be our last console." @xboxp3 #e3 pic.twitter.com/FOqke6aCHM
— Giant Bomb (@giantbomb) June 13, 2019
Finally, Spencer addressed the rumours Microsoft is planning to expand its cross-network play arrangement with Nintendo to bring the Xbox Games Pass service to the handheld Switch console.
He said: “That platform is different enough from an Xbox platform that it’s not trivial for us to just say those games will run there.” He added that bringing game streaming to Android is a priority and will be the “natural first move.” Spencer didn’t say the Switch won’t get Game Pass at some point, but don’t expect it any time soon.
You can see the full interview with Giant Bomb below:
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.