Xbox One news: Shock Xbox and PlayStation update after big PS4 reveal

Microsoft have big plans

Microsoft has big plans for their next Xbox console (Image: MICROSOFT)

The new Xbox console from Microsoft is aiming to compete with both the PS4 successor and any other rivals that appear in the coming months.

That’s the latest news shared about the tech giant’s plans for the future, with other big projects in the works too.

Meanwhile, Sony PlayStation is also working on something similar that will no doubt try and match their console rival in terms of power.

New reports out this week suggest that both tech giants are planning consoles that will pack some serious firepower when they are announced.

Currently, Microsoft’s flagship gaming machine – the Xbox One X – boasts 6 Teraflops, making it the most powerful console on the market

And it appears their next Xbox device will beat that by some way, with Sony PlayStation not looking to be left behind.

Kotaku’s Jason Schreier posted news on the subject via the Reset Era forums, revealing that both companies want to hit over 10.7 teraflops with their new consoles.

This would help match whatever Google will be releasing this year via its Stadia streaming service.

“Look, as I’ve been saying since roughly March 2018 (in this very thread), next-gen is coming in 2020,” he posted online.

“That Semiaccurate article saying 2018 (lol) got people’s hopes up for 2019, but by now I hope it’s clear that the PS5 ain’t coming out this fall.

“And, despite all the rumours about devkits being out (usually from rumormongers who are wrong more often than not), the number of people briefed on next-gen is still very limited.

“Even within companies like, say, DICE, there’ll be a small team of engineers who now have a rough idea of specs, and everyone else will know when they need to know. Not a lot of devs are disclosed on next-gen right now.

“In other words, don’t expect much in the way of substantial leakage just yet. The only thing to know for sure is that both Sony and Microsoft are aiming higher than that “10.7 teraflops” number that Google threw out last week.”

If this proves to be true, it’ll be great news for current Xbox One and PS4 gamers planning on sticking with their chosen platforms in 2020 and beyond.

Both are rumoured to be supporting backwards compatibility, meaning possible upgrades in technical specs for older titles.

A release date for both consoles in 2020 will also come as welcome news for fans. It follows news of a massive win for Sony’s PS4 console and one special feature not available on the Xbox One.

It was recently announced by the company that over four million PlayStation VR headsets had been sold since it launched in 2016.

The big number may explain why even more exclusive titles – like Iron Man VR – were recently announced for PS4.

Sony confirmed the news in a recent blog announcement, while also revealing that those 4 million units had been sold through to consumers, rather than just shipped to retailers.

“We’re also very excited to reveal that we have officially sold-through more than 4.2 million PS VR systems worldwide as of March 3, 2019,” the Sony announcement reads.

“We’d like to thank our fans for the amazing support for helping us achieve the milestone. Now without further ado, on to all the great games coming to PS VR.”

This puts the PSVR at the top of the Virtual Reality charts in terms of sales but isn’t comparable to how recent consoles have sold.

The Xbox One, while lagging behind the PS4 when it comes to sales, still sold a lot more units at the same point in its lifecycle.

However, not being a standalone device would make it almost impossible for the PSVR to hit those kinds of numbers.

Project xCloud will be released this year

Project xCloud will launch this year (Image: MICROSOFT)

Microsoft doesn’t appear ready to jump into the VR market themselves, focusing more on getting their new Project xCloud streaming service into consumer’s hands in 2019.

More is expected to be announced by the tech giant in the coming months, possibly with a big announcement being saved for E3.

And it sounds like Project xCloud could be targeting a whole new audience for Microsoft when it does arrive in 2019, with Kareem Choudhry, CVP of Gaming Cloud teasing in a recent post:

“While our vision for the technology is complementary to the ways in which we use consoles today, Project xCloud will also open the world of Xbox to those who may not otherwise own traditional, dedicated gaming hardware.

“True console-quality gaming will become available on mobile devices, providing the 2 billion-plus gamers around the world a new gateway to previously console- and PC-exclusive content.

“We can achieve this vision with the global distribution of Microsoft’s datacenters in 54 Azure regions and the advanced network technologies developed by the team at Microsoft Research.

“Project xCloud is an integral part of our vision for placing you the gamer at the centre of your experience, giving you more choice in how and when you play.”

source: express.co.uk