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[GoldenEye98]

https://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-maverick

The Xbox One's upcoming disc-less iteration is currently tagged "Maverick," an internal codename for the project used at Microsoft. As first detailed by Thurrott, the console will reportedly rework the existing entry-level Xbox One S, further cutting manufacturing costs in pursuit of a lower price. It's one of the most ambitious shake-ups in Xbox history, cutting a once-essential component amid growing services and digital purchases.

Xbox Maverick will likely pack near-identical internals to the Xbox One S, including a potentially similar exterior, though forgoing the optical disc drive. Further non-essential gaming components could be cut in the process, although ideally not comprising the console's core gaming offerings. Microsoft has already experimented with condensing disc-less Xbox One S hardware into server blades for its Project xCloud streaming service, which may aid Maverick development.

Alongside Xbox Maverick, Microsoft will reportedly debut two new programs aimed at streamlining digital purchases. The first is a "disc-to-digital" program, which will help existing Xbox users fully transition into the digital ecosystem. The pairs with a "digital attach" system targeted towards new Xbox buyers getting started with online services.

Microsoft's rumored disc-to-digital process is proving promising, shaking up digital adoption with a new trade-in program. The initiative will allow Xbox users to deposit existing disc-based titles at select retailers, in return for a digital license. It makes a move into digital easier, cheaper, and might sway those undecided. In the long-term, this would convert more players to the storefront, increasing digital adoption ahead of the next major console refresh.

Details have also surfaced on a checkout service for new console buyers, attaching their purchases directly to the console. Codenamed Roma, the project could allow Microsoft to pre-load consoles with services like Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass, further reducing the setup of a clean console.

Without official word from Microsoft, details on Xbox Maverick and its availability are scarce. Current rumors indicate a release as early as spring of 2019, though should be taken lightly, given the pre-release nature of the project. Likely positioned as a low-cost entry to the Xbox One family, don't expect a grand reveal either.

With efforts focused on reducing the cost of Xbox One, reports indicate the console will drop to $199, or lower. That's a third off the existing Xbox One S, likely opening the console to a broader pool of casual gamers.

 

[PseudoViper]

Interesting...

But also makes me extremely wary. Not sure how to really feel about it*.

 

[pr0cs]

If I could bring in all my old 360 discs and have them converted to digital licenses I'd do it. I'd consider paying a nominal fee for it as well. I hate all the clutter of having disc boxes.

 

[Fake]

Wow, $199 still expansive take into consideration the remove of some peaces of Xbox S. They really want maximum profit.

 

[Hendrick's]

Disk to digital sounds like a bold move that will help speed along the inevitable demise of physical media. Though there could be a strange period where it would still be cheaper to buy physical and convert to digital instead of just buying digital directly.

 

[MacReady13]

They're basically doing what they said they'd do for he launch of the Xbox One. I like it, but i'm still keeping my Xbox One X for 4k blu ray films!

 

[The Alien]

Wow, $199 still expansive take into consideration the remove of some peaces of Xbox S. They really want maximum profit.

Agreed.

If u are a savvy shopper, you can buy a standard One S with a game for ~$220.

I thought this needed to be around $125/$150.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

If they bundled this with a year of Game Pass, it would be a great deal.

 

[Akuza89]

A £199 disc less xbox one wouldn't work.

it'd have to be at the most £130, considering what they are doing is chopping off the disc drive and changing around the OS so it doesn't need discs a little...

Besides that, they have to work on educating the consumers in the adverts for this new console if it happens, I can see a mother getting 1 for their child and not having a clue why it doesn't have a disc drive... so people can't buy disc based pre-owned games for it...

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Yeah, I think MS need to take a hit on this just to get xbox into people’s homes. Just take a cost hit, in the long run it will work out.

As for the disk to digital trade in, this is something I’m really interested in. With over 150 games, they... all take up space. I’m getting to a point in my life where I’m trying to declutter so more digital titles is fine by me!

 

[Trogdor1123]

The price difference just isn't there imo. They would need a massive HDD as well, maybe 4tb or so.

 

[pr0cs]

Wow, $199 still expansive .

The MSRP for the OneS is $299 right now, this shaves another $100 off that price putting it in the range of a LOT more people.
Considering Microsoft never put the 360 on sale for less than $199 MSRP (I don't consider the gimped arcade edition a usable 360) I think the $299 value makes sense

 

[juliotendo]

This will work assuming Microsoft fully markets it and provides incentives for customers to purchase into it.

I would imagine below $200 price point. 1 year of game pass, and a disc to digital conversion program. Perhaps maybe a couple months of streaming from Netflix or Hulu — joint promotion with streaming companies for entertainment. Something of that sort.

If Microsoft doesn’t offer some variation of the above this will fail.

 

[Fake]

The MSRP for the OneS is $299 right now, this shaves another $100 off that price putting it in the range of a LOT more people.
Considering Microsoft never put the 360 on sale for less than $199 MSRP (I don't consider the gimped arcade edition a usable 360) I think the $299 value makes sense

This is a risk move imo because you need to send the msng about 'no disk' product to the casual client.
If for example I gift my cousion with a Xbox S without disc everyone in the family need to take in consideration about future gifts. I used to give disc as a gift, so here in Brazil places like Saraiva DON'T return your money, they just give you a option of change for another game in the same price.

So this console need to be very very cheap. Sony sold last year a ps4+spider at $199, so I can't take this price too serious. They're selling to you a console without some feactures (console with can't read disc).

 

[bumleforce]

This will work assuming Microsoft fully markets it and provides incentives for customers to purchase into it.

I would imagine below $200 price point. 1 year of game pass, and a disc to digital conversion program. Perhaps maybe a couple months of streaming from Netflix or Hulu — joint promotion with streaming companies for entertainment. Something of that sort.

If Microsoft doesn’t offer some variation of the above this will fail.

I dont think it will fail. I think if it just had no drive but was smaller and cheaper it will do fine. Microsoft is about options. If it had those 2 features id buy that as a third xbox keep it in my car or backpack and take it to my weekend job where I sit and do nothing all night

 

[pr0cs]

This is a risk move imo because you need to send the msng about 'no disk' product to the casual client.
.

Yes, education would be required, but clearly this would be for USA anyway, unless they create stores elsewhere that allow disk trade in.
Keep in mind ALL prices are MSRP, meaning retail will be cheaper

 

[FeldMonster]

I think the coolest information here is the checkout aspect. You can order your console online, including the games and services you want (Gamepass, XCloud, EA Access, Nerflix, etc.) and when you pick it up, everything has already been loaded by the store. Would be a good way for Best Buy, Target, Walmart, etc. to stay relevant and for MS to be in their good graces. They could charge $15-$20 for the install service. Would be super useful for parents buying consoles, pre-empting the modern console problem of hours of downloads/installs after opening before it could be used. The stores likely have high bandwidth internet service anyways.

 

[J-Roderton]

I watch way too many dvd/blu-rays on my Xbox one for this to work in my place just yet.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Seems like a smart business move and further confirms my hunch that PS4/X1 will be alive for much longer than people expect.

 

[pr0cs]

I watch way too many dvd/blu-rays on my Xbox one for this to work in my place just yet.

It seems geared to more serve the very price sensitive consumers than those of us more dedicated gamers.

At least it is a better solution than the Xbox 360 core which was simply gimped since space was pretty much mandatory.

 

[Ten_Fold]

$199 need to come with a year of gamepass because I’ve seen deals of the one s for like $250 with like gears or something.

 

[ThatOneGrunt]

Great. Sign me up. I've been ready for an all digital future for a while. Discs are dumb and archaic.

 

[bitbydeath]

Testing the waters for next-gen?

 

[DiscoJer]

Needs to go lower. We hardly sold any Xbox S Bundles during the holiday season at $229. While I guess there is a perception factor of $199 that is hugely different than $229 with a game, it's still not a great value.

 

[Hendrick's]

Needs to go lower. We hardly sold any Xbox S Bundles during the holiday season at $229. While I guess there is a perception factor of $199 that is hugely different than $229 with a game, it's still not a great value.

If they push these out with a few free months of Gamepass and a good marketing campaign I can see the price point working for awhile.

 

[AgentP]

Testing the waters for next-gen?

Yep, it's all about the walled garden, services and less choice. Welcome to MS pretending to be Apple.

 

[Durask]

If I could bring in all my old 360 discs and have them converted to digital licenses I'd do it. I'd consider paying a nominal fee for it as well. I hate all the clutter of having disc boxes.

I'd do that

The alternatives would be
-sell them on Ebay for a few bucks each - not worth the time and effort
-waste my time driving to Best Buy to recycle them.

 

[spookyfish]

Does removing the drive really save that much? How much is MS spending per drive, you think?

 

[kunonabi]

If it was a discless X I'd bite.

 

[MaulerX]

Xbox Maverick will likely pack near-identical internals to the Xbox One S, including a potentially similar exterior, though forgoing the optical disc drive

I mean, at the very least it has to be smaller right? I can't imagine this being the same size.

 

[Scopa]

“Attaching their purchases directly to the console”

Isn’t this what people got mad at Nintendo for doing?

 

[Toe-Knee]

I mean, at the very least it has to be smaller right? I can't imagine this being the same size.

The drives are pretty small. The cpu cooler itself will be taller so unless they made it have a stepped design that's 10mm smaller on one side its good be pretty much identical size wise

 

[Sparda]

More hardware iteration than games.

 

[MaulerX]

The drives are pretty small. The cpu cooler itself will be taller so unless they made it have a stepped design that's 10mm smaller on one side its good be pretty much identical size wise

Yea you're probably right. In that case you might as well fork over the few extra bucks and get the current one with the 4k Blu-ray drive.

More hardware iteration than games.

Come on now.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Does removing the drive really save that much? How much is MS spending per drive, you think?

Even if it were to cost money to remove it they would attempt to do this: it is very important for MS’s goal of helping the industry to kill physical game sales and thus also used game sales. This is still a big one for them and one they never did a 180° on, they just put it on the back burner until they had enough positive mindshare to try again.

 

[TeamGhobad]

i haven't bought a PC since 2008 but do new gaming PCs come with a DVD burner / bluray player?

 

[Texas Pride]

Even if it were to cost money to remove it they would attempt to do this: it is very important for MS’s goal of helping the industry to kill physical game sales and thus also used game sales. This is still a big one for them and one they never did a 180° on, they just put it on the back burner until they had enough positive mindshare to try again.

They never abandoned that plan. They've lulled everyone asleep but their end goal is to kill physical games on their platform & by extension used games.

 

[CeeJay]

“Attaching their purchases directly to the console”

Isn’t this what people got mad at Nintendo for doing?

That's not what this means. It means that whatever services you add to your basket when ordering are already preloaded when the console arrives. It's a nice QOL feature that saves you inputting a code for Xbox Live Gold for example during setup;


"Details have also surfaced on a checkout service for new console buyers, attaching their purchases directly to the console. Codenamed Roma, the project could allow Microsoft to pre-load consoles with services like Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass, further reducing the setup of a clean console."

If you login to another console you will still have all your games and services available the same as you do now.

 

[kraspkibble]

i never realised they were planning on releasing a disc less Xbox One. i thought it was only for next gen Xbox.

this is great news! a dirt cheap digital only XB1 is just what i want. not wasting my money on an Xbox One X and while the S is ~£190 if they are planning to offer a cheaper model then I'll wait for that instead.

I already bought Forza 7/H4 and Sunset Overdrive on PC so they're digital of course and I bought Halo MCC/5 digitally. I just want a cheap Xbox One to go back to Halo and to play Forza/Sunset when not at my PC.

 

[Scopa]

That's not what this means. It means that whatever services you add to your basket when ordering are already preloaded when the console arrives. It's a nice QOL feature that saves you inputting a code for Xbox Live Gold for example during setup;


"Details have also surfaced on a checkout service for new console buyers, attaching their purchases directly to the console. Codenamed Roma, the project could allow Microsoft to pre-load consoles with services like Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass, further reducing the setup of a clean console."

If you login to another console you will still have all your games and services available the same as you do now.

Oh right, I missed the “new console buyers”, I thought it was referring to software.

 

[CeeJay]

i never realised they were planning on releasing a disc less Xbox One. i thought it was only for next gen Xbox.

this is great news! a dirt cheap digital only XB1 is just what i want. not wasting my money on an Xbox One X and while the S is ~£190 if they are planning to offer a cheaper model then I'll wait for that instead.

I already bought Forza 7/H4 and Sunset Overdrive on PC so they're digital of course and I bought Halo MCC/5 digitally. I just want a cheap Xbox One to go back to Halo and to play Forza/Sunset when not at my PC.

Unless I am mistaken, SSOD isn't Play Anywhere so you would need to purchase it again on Xbox

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

That's not what this means. It means that whatever services you add to your basket when ordering are already preloaded when the console arrives. It's a nice QOL feature that saves you inputting a code for Xbox Live Gold for example during setup;


"Details have also surfaced on a checkout service for new console buyers, attaching their purchases directly to the console. Codenamed Roma, the project could allow Microsoft to pre-load consoles with services like Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass, further reducing the setup of a clean console."

If you login to another console you will still have all your games and services available the same as you do now.

That's a cool feature. It's nice for XBL customers with large digital libraries.

 

[sn0man]

It seems geared to more serve the very price sensitive consumers than those of us more dedicated gamers.

At least it is a better solution than the Xbox 360 core which was simply gimped since space was pretty much mandatory.

I would argue the 360 core wasn't a bad solution. 1st 360 games didn't require an installation so no drive was needed to play 2nd you could buy a hdd later if you wanted that functionality 3rd you could buy memory cards 4th you could buy usb storage once they patched the system to accept that

I doubt MS will sell a disc-drive accessory if people change their mind and want to own a few dozen discs. I think if MS wanted to make this work they should get really aggressive on price, like $150.

 

[dorkimoe]

No thanks. Keeping my 4k drive in my X. Its what made me upgrade. And I never want to go digital, I want to be able to resell my games even if i get 10 bucks for them. Also think this should be able to drop down to $150, not that the drives are expensive or anything

 

[Trogdor1123]

I kind of hope Sony and Ms do something along these lines if they include all of the following:

1. Digital BC back to this gen (more would be better)
2. A trade in plan
3. A massive, massive HDD
4. A way to share digital Games
5. A lower price

 

[Trogdor1123]

Th

No thanks. Keeping my 4k drive in my X. Its what made me upgrade. And I never want to go digital, I want to be able to resell my games even if i get 10 bucks for them. Also think this should be able to drop down to $150, not that the drives are expensive or anything

You're not getting a discount cause the drive is gone. You are getting it as it reduces your options as a consumer. Very different.

 

[One Eyed Willy]

Its an option to their platform which is great.

 

[mckmas8808]

Disk to digital sounds like a bold move that will help speed along the inevitable demise of physical media. Though there could be a strange period where it would still be cheaper to buy physical and convert to digital instead of just buying digital directly.

There will be no demise of physical media. Unless MS doesn't want to be a global brand.

 

[michaelius]

“Attaching their purchases directly to the console”

Isn’t this what people got mad at Nintendo for doing?

That's what people got mad at Microsoft during Xbox One announcement.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

No thanks. Keeping my 4k drive in my X. Its what made me upgrade. And I never want to go digital, I want to be able to resell my games even if i get 10 bucks for them. Also think this should be able to drop down to $150, not that the drives are expensive or anything

It's not about the price of the drive.

Lets say they get the size down by 25% (random number). That reduction in size is lower cost in manufacturing of the board, lower cost in packaging and shipping as less weight etc. as well as lower cost in less components. These are all small amounts of money alone but add up especially with the amount of manufacturing MS will be doing. Then you have the real kicker which is digital games. Every customer that buys digital nets Microsoft more money versus physical copies of the same game and Game Pass which would be huge for this console.

This seems like MS testing the waters for the future IMO. It is also an option for customers who may not jump in at the normal $299 price point just to play 1 or 2 games. I know multiple people that buy only FIFA/COD a year and it would be perfect for them as they play them for an entire year then move on (and aren't recouping more then a few $$ anyway).