Microsoft Reportedly Still Working On Cheaper, Discless Xbox Scarlett Variant

Last year, before Microsoft had officially unveiled Project Scarlett, rumours were swirling that multiple variants of a next gen Xbox were in the works. Anaconda, which would be the more powerful model (equivalent to the Xbox One X this gen), and Lockhart, the cheaper, less powerful model (equivalent to the Xbox One S).

After Scarlett’s reveal at E3 this year, reports started emerging that due to multiple reasons, Microsoft had dropped plans to have multiple Xbox Scarlett SKUs. However, now, as per a report by Kotaku’s Jason Schreier, Microsoft still has those plans underway.

Lockhart, a cheaper, discless version of the Xbox Scarlett, is still being worked on. It will also be less powerful than the other variant, which, according to Kotaku, is cause for concern among some developers, since they will have to balance both pieces of hardware while working on games.

One developer tells Kotaku that the system is roughly as powerful as a PS4 Pro, in terms of raw graphical power. That said, Lockhart still has a solid state drive (or an SSD), which is supposed to be an important new feature in next-gen consoles. Lockhart also reportedly has a faster CPU than current gen consoles.

Microsoft is reportedly targeting – as well as encouraging developers to target – a baseline of 1440p and 60 FPS on Lockhart, and 4K and 60 FPS on Anaconda.

Earlier this year, we saw similar reports that a streaming-only cheaper variant of the Xbox Scarlett was still very much part of Microsoft’s plans, so perhaps Lockhart isn’t as dead in the water as we thought it might have been.