Xbox 720 (Rumored)

Microsoft has yet to announce a successor to the Xbox 360, although lots
of rumors and speculations have recently surfaced about the company's
next home console. The information on this page is based on sourced,
reasonable speculation, rumored features and alleged leaks.

Console Codename



According to Crytek's senior technical designer Sean Tracy, the Xbox 720 is reportedly codenamed "Durango." [1] Previous reports referred to the next Xbox as "Loop." [2]


Pricing and Release


In regards to the announcement of the Xbox 720, Microsoft stated,
"For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360-and it's the best year ever for Xbox
360." Speaking with IGN, the company said, "While we appreciate all the
interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that
there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon." [3]

Tech site Fudzilla reports that "any hope for a holiday console release in 2012 seems unrealistic, according to our sources." [4]

British trade magazine MCV claims that a 2013 release window has been confirmed. [5]


Hardware Specs


Reputable blogger MS Nerd stated that the Xbox 720 will be smaller
than the existing console, and will be cheaper to help drive Kinect
adoption. He continued by saying that "It will use a Zune HD-like
hardware platform—a 'main' processor with multiple dedicated assistive
cores for graphics, AI, physics, sound, networking, encryption and
sensors. It will be custom designed by Microsoft and two partners based
on the ARM architecture." [6]

The Xbox 720's System on a Chip began production in late December
2011, according to tech site Fudzilla, and is being made by IBM and
Global Foundries for Microsoft. They continued by saying "the power
behind the next Xbox will be a PowerPC CPU that is married to an ATI
Southern Islands GPU, or modified 7000 series." [7]

In March 2012, British trade magazine MCV stated that Microsoft's
next Xbox will not use an optical drive. Instead, a solid state drive
will be used to store games. [8]



On February 10, 2012, Xbox World magazine reported that the new
Xbox's controller will be "an HD screen surrounded by the traditional
360 buttons and sticks" and that it “could be a remote control when
you're watching TV, a browser when you're on the internet, extra buttons
and information when you're playing a game or a portable display when
you want to take your game with you." [9]

VG247
reported on April 2, 2012 that the next Xbox will feature a blu-ray
player and pack an extra processing punch powered by two GPUs, "like two
PCs taped together," and four or six cores in the CPU. The graphics
card is reported to be equivalent to AMD's 7000 series.


Anti-Used Games?


Sources told Kotaku on January 25, 2012 that the Xbox 720 will have a
system that will not allow used-games to be played on the console. [10]



While this claim hasn't yet been corroborated, more rumors surfaced
on April 2, 2012 that the next Xbox console will need to be fed off a
constant internet connection, which might be one way Microsoft plans to
combat used and pirated games. [11]


Possible Xbox 720 Games In Development

• Next-Gen Call of Duty - Developer Infinity Ward posted a
  job listing on its site calling for a senior animator "with experience
  in game development and an interest in working with next-generation
  technologies." [12]
  
• Bethesda Next-Gen Project - A job listing on Bethesda's
  site calls for "experienced programmers to work on cutting-edge
  technology for an unannounced game on future-generation consoles." [13]
  
• Ready at Dawn Next-Gen Game - The developers of the God
  of War PSP games are developing "an exciting new AAA IP for a
  Next-Generation home console game system." [14]
  
• Next-Gen Sonic Game - Sega notes that Sonic "won't
  become photo-real" in next-gen games and that he "will always remain
  stylized and will have that bright, colorful world. What the high
  hardware spec will allow us to do is make that more convincing." [15]
  
• THQ Next-Gen Games - THQ CEO Brian Farrell believes development for next-gen consoles offers "a tremendous amount of opportunity." [16]
  
• Square-Enix "Luminous" Games - Square-Enix is showing
  off its "Luminous" tech engine, capable of highly realistic next-gen
  graphics. Luminous will make games 30% cheaper and shorten development
  cycles. [17]
  
• Crytek Next-Gen Game - Perhaps Homefront 2 or TimeSplitters 4? Crytek was the company that originally outed the Xbox 720's Durango codename.[18]
  
• Lionhead Studios Next-Gen Game - The studio (sans
  Molyneux) has been on the lookout for programmers with experience using
  the Unreal Engine, and "significant experience leading teams designing
  and implementing modern rendering engine." Example given is DirectX11,
  which is rumored to be compatible with the Xbox 360's successor. [19]
  
• Remedy 'Future-Gen' Game - Alan Wake developer Remedy
  posted on its community forums that it is hiring more than 20 people for
  work on a game for "future generation consoles." [20]