Microsoft's next-gen Xbox is on the horizon, and the company is starting to talk about it.
The video game giant announced its new Xbox, called Project Scarlett, at its Xbox press conference. The new device, Microsoft said, will be 4x more powerful than its Xbox One X, promising faster loading times and more intense visuals with 8K graphics, support for 120fps and an SSD when it's released in 2020.
"A console should be built and optimized for one thing and one thing only: Gaming ," Xbox head Phil Spencer said during the company's presentation ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, also known as E3, in Los Angeles
To help boost the console's appeal, Microsoft said the device will launch with its next big upcoming space war game, Halo Infinite. The original Halo was released in 2001 alongside the original Xbox, and helped make the device a household name.
"We have thousands of games in development across Xbox One and Windows PC," Spencer said.
Microsoft showed off more than 60 games during its presentation -- some big like CD Projekt Red's futuristic dystopian adventure game Cyberpunk 2077 and Microsoft's own Gears 5 and some small. The company said 14 of the games shown came from the company's development arm, known as Xbox Game Studios. And over 30 games premiering on the company's Xbox Game Pass subscription service.
"My team and I are single minded in our resolve to bring everyone the games they wan to play," he added.
The company's also discussed its upcoming Project xCloud service, which will allow people to stream games over the internet in a similar way they watch Netflix videos today. That will be going up against Google's Stadia, a competing service announced in March, designed to work alongside the company's massively popular YouTube video site.
Microsoft said xCloud will not be a standalone video game service, but rather it will work with an existing Xbox to help you play games on mobile devices at home or while traveling. The new service will enter a public testing phase later this year.
First look at xCloud on a phone at E3.
While Microsoft prepares for a streaming future, it's also starting to push on its subscription service, Xbox Game Pass. The company said its Game Pass for the PC will cost $9.99, and will begin public testing Sunday. Microsoft also said the service will be included in its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate service, a $14.99 per month subscription that combines the company's Xbox Game Pass for console, its Xbox Live social network and, now, its Xbox Game Pass for PC.
As part of its push, the company said it's acquired Double Fine Productions, a popular video game developer whose upcoming Psychonauts 2 adventure game is highly anticipated.
The company also said it'll offer its upcoming Gears 5 space war game will be released September 10, though Xbox Game Pass subscribers will get it four days earlier.
Microsoft also unveiled the new version of its Elite controller, now with Bluetooth, an internal rechargeable battery pack, adjustable tension thumbsticks and so much more.
The new Elite controller.
Upcoming E3 press conferences
Saturday, June 8
- Electronic Arts -- The game maker showed off 15 minutes of gameplay for its upcoming adventure game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. It also announced new features for its free-to-download Apex Legends last-man-standing battle royale game, offering a new character and weapon to play with. The company also showed off a new paid update for The Sims 4, called Island Living, that brings the series to a tropical beach. Finally, the company did discuss drama over the mixed reviews for its Anthem action adventure game, saying it "learned a lot" and had more updates and features planned soon.
Sunday, June 9
- Microsoft / Xbox -- The gaming giant's biggest news was Project Scarlett, its next-generation Xbox, coming in 2020. The new device is up to 4x more powerful, the company said, and like the next-gen PlayStation it'll include a fast non-mechanical SSD hard drive, and it'll be powered by custom innards built with the help of chipmaker AMD. The company also announced that Halo Infinite will launch alongside Project Scarlett next year. Meantime, Microsoft is starting public tests of its Project xCloud streaming service in October, promising people the ability to play high end games on their mobile devices while away from home. While fans wait, Microsoft announced an update to its Xbox Elite Controller Series 2 as well as a slew of new games. And action star Keanu Reeves, fresh off the success of John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum, was on stage to announce his involvement with Cyberpunk 2077, which is coming next year.
- Bethesda -- Bethesda kicked off its event with humility over the mixed response to Fallout 76, but quickly went back on the offensive. Fallout 76 got a new Battle Royale mode, Wolfenstein Youngblood received a new trailer and a co-op mode. We got a new game called Deathloop from the clever folks behind Dishonored and Bethesda introduced us to Orion, a piece of tech from ID Software designed to make game streaming better on services like Google Stadia. The lion's share of attention, however, went to Doom Eternal, which looked fantastic in both single player and multiplayer.
Monday, June 10
- PC Gaming Show -- This annual PC Gaming Show is held at a theater a short walk from the Los Angeles Convention Center, but still draws a large crowd, filling the 1,700-person capacity downtown Mayan Theater. Inside, the usual suspects, from Halo to Doom, were nowhere to be found. Instead, the crowd cheered for PC-centric games including Zombie Army 4, Baldur's Gate 3 and Terraria: Journey's End. (No, the game sequel problem isn't any better on PCs.) The highlight was a brief onstage appearance by legendary game designer Yu Suzuki, responsible for classics such as Hang-On and Virtua Fighter. His long-awaited Shenmue 3 is expected in November, 18 years after Shenmue 2.
- Ubisoft -- The French gaming giant announced its next big dystopian hacking adventure game, Watch Dogs: Legion, launching March 2020. The new game is set in near-future post-Brexit London, where the economy is failing and government is breaking down. The company also announced a new television show, called Mythic Quest, that will launch on Apple TV Plus. And it celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Just Dance party games.
- Square Enix -- Aside from the Final Fantasy 7 remake release date announcement, Square Enix also showed off its new comic book tie-in, Marvel's Avengers: A Day. Though the new game is different from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, some fans criticized the character's looks. It's coming in 2020.
Tuesday, June 11
- Nintendo -- The Mario maker surprised fans with announcement of a new Legend of Zelda game, which appeared to be a direct sequel to the critical darling The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. This new title appears to be a sequel to Breath of the Wild, too. It also announced its newest Animal Crossing game is being delayed to 2020, and gave a look at Luigi's Mansion 3, coming later this year.
We're there
CNET will be on the ground, covering covering E3 2019 alongside our sister site, Gamespot. We'll update this page throughout the show as more games are announced.