There has been one persistently weird angle to the next console generation, the idea that Microsoft, in addition to making the Xbox Series X, is also making a second, lower-spec console, codenamed the Xbox Lockhart.

And yet the idea that Lockhart exists and is coming out this fall alongside the Series X is no longer something I can believe is actually happening.

In addition to the “free upgrade” Smart Delivery system for games between generations, Microsoft is also promising “forward compatibility” for its first party offerings for a while to come, where those Series X games should also be able to run on an Xbox One, albeit at a reduced capacity.

If that exists as an option, then where exactly does a new console, Xbox Lockhart, fit in between current Xbox One models and the new Series X.

It would make a lot more sense to price the Series X low, sell only one unit, try to undercut Sony and then make up the difference with Game Pass, XCloud and Xbox Live subscriptions?

The only thing I could see happening is if Microsoft ends up immediately stopping production of Xbox Ones and One Xs, and replaces them all with Lockharts that are “upgraded” versions for around the same price, offering at least some of the features of the Series X without all the bells and whistles.

Yet that still leaves 50+ million Xbox Ones out there that are going to need to be supported anyway.

I just don’t think Microsoft is going to go through with the Xbox Lockhart idea