The new rumours say that the Redmond-based company is now working on TWO next-gen consoles.

Thurrott and The Verge report that Microsoft is also creating a streaming-only console, which would use their new, upcoming streaming service. „Microsoft thinks it has figured out how to handle the latency sensitive aspects of gaming,” Thurrott claims.

„The cloud console will have a limited amount of computing locally for specific tasks like controller input, image processing, and importantly, collision detection. The downside of this is that it since more hardware is needed locally, it will raise the price of the streaming box, but it will still cost significantly less than what we are accustomed to paying for a new-generation console which should help expand the platform’s reach,” their article continues.

The Verge, based on its sources close to Microsoft, add that the streaming service is codenamed XCloud, and it would power this „second console.” MS is all-in on creating datacenters that would provide the backbone of the service. „These servers will launch initially with developers in mind to build and develop games in the cloud instead of local debug machines and then to stream games to consumers,” The Verge claims.

Of course, none of the information above is confirmed at the moment, but the streaming thought does seem to fall in line with people in the industry, such as Yves Guillemot, president of Ubisoft, seems to say. There might be truth in the rumours.

Source: WCCFTech