Xbox 720 launch event date rumours now set on 21 May, "Stingray" Xbox 360 coming too
Sony have (mostly) played their next-generation games console hand, and now it’s the turn of Microsoft. New rumours are circulating suggesting that the successor to the Xbox 360 console (tentatively being called the Xbox 720 and known to developers by the dev kit codename “Durango”), will be revealed next month.
Microsoft blogger Paul Thurrott (speaking of the Xbox 720 from around the 55-minute mark in this What The Tech video post) has suggested that Microsoft will launch the new console at an event on 21 May. With the previous rumoured April launch window now seemingly missed (unless a last minute event is announced), the date would ring true with expected launch timings, giving the console a jump start over the annual E3 gaming event and allowing Microsoft and partnered games developers to further show their 720 wares at the summer’s industry-wide event.
Microsoft are certainly putting the wheels in motion to launch a new console; the company have already registered the domain XboxEvent.com, suggesting the company are preparing a landing page for gaming fans to head to in order to catch any eventual announcements.
The company also face a potential backlash over rumours of a constant-internet required tied to the forthcoming console. Multiple industry sources are reporting the controversial anti-piracy measure as a dead-cert for inclusion in the new console, while Microsoft Studio creative director Adam Orth has seemingly confirmed the rumour, answering related enquires over Twitter with the hashtag #dealwithit.
Thurrott in the video also reveals that Microsoft may be planning on the simultaneous launch of a new model of the Xbox 360, a cut-price $99 edition focussed on media streaming and aimed at the Roku box market.
