Halo’s studio boss reportedly referenced ‘multiple’ next-gen Xbox consoles

The studio head of Halo Infinite developer 343 has reportedly made reference to multiple next-gen Xbox devices.

According to an article on Gameblog.fr, 343’s Chris Lee stated in a media interview that the first-person shooter would run well on “all Scarlett devices,” seemingly providing further evidence that Microsoft is preparing to launch a second console alongside Series X.

Scarlett is the codename for Xbox’s next-gen hardware project. As reported by multiple media outlets including VGC, Lockhart – or Series S, as it’s likely to be called – is a less powerful version of Series X that will likely target cost-conscious consumers.

Lockhart development kits are understood to have been with studios for several months, with next-gen Xbox developers expected to support both Series X and Lockhart in a setup similar to the existing Xbox One X and Xbox One S consoles, and PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro.

In recently distributed developer documents seen by VGC, Microsoft refers to its next-gen console hardware only as “the Scarlett console family.” According to the docs, the “family of Xbox consoles” includes ‘Anaconda’ (Series X) and ‘Lockhart’.

The console codenamed Lockhart will reportedly target 4 teraflops of computing power (compared to the 12 of Series X) and possibly include the same CPU and SSD.

Microsoft recently confirmed it would halt production of its Xbox One X and Xbox One S All-Digital Edition consoles, likely in anticipation for the cheaper next-gen hardware.

Xbox One X, originally billed as “the world’s most powerful console”, was launched in November 2017, while the disc-less All Digital Edition was launched only last year.

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