According to reports, Microsoft’s previously rumoured disc-less Xbox One will be called the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition and be released some time this May.
Word on a disc-less Xbox One first surfaced last year, when reliable tech website Thurrott flagged it, under the codename Maverick, as one of two Xbox One S variants currently in the works at Microsoft. The other, focussed on cost reduction while still retaining the disc-drive, was touted to launch later in 2019.
Both projects are obviously completely separate to Microsoft’s long-awaited next-generation Xbox One successor, not expected to release until 2020.
At the time of its initial report, Thurrott claimed that Microsoft was aiming to release its disc-less Xbox One S at a sub-$200 USD price point, some time this “spring”. And now, Windows Central has heard from its own sources that the new console (said to “pack near-identical internals to the Xbox One S”, minus the disc-drive) will be officially titled the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, and could receive a “near-global simultaneous launch” in early May this year. Pre-orders are expected to open mid-April, but there’s no additional word on pricing.
According to Windows Central, Microsoft may also have a Fortnite Edition Xbox One in the works, featuring a custom design. The website was unclear, however, whether this would be a version of the new All-Digital Edition console or of the existing Xbox One line.
In January, Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter gave his own thoughts on a potential disc-less version of Xbox One, writing that while it “may not appeal much to the core gamer… I see it as a perfect companion for Microsoft’s value-laden, digital-based Game Pass service. In short, just like Game Pass, it’s a new offering designed to address a different, potentially wider audience.”
