Xbox 720 (Rumored) Wiki Guide

Microsoft has yet to announce a successor to the Xbox 360, although lots of rumors and speculations have recently surfaced about the company's next home console. The information on this page is based on sourced, reasonable speculation, rumored features and alleged leaks.

Console Codename

According to Crytek's senior technical designer Sean Tracy, the Xbox 720 is reportedly codenamed "Durango." [1] Previous reports referred to the next Xbox as "Loop." [2]

Pricing and Release

Industry analysts and sources close to Microsoft estimate a holiday 2013 release for the next Xbox. In regards to the official announcement of the Xbox 720, Microsoft stated, "For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360-and it's the best year ever for Xbox 360." Speaking with IGN, the company said, "While we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon." [3]

British trade magazine MCV claims that a 2013 release window has been confirmed. [4]

Tech site SemiAccurate alleges that the launch could be pushed out beyond 2013 should manufacturing yields of the Oban processor that powers the system not increase. [5]

Hardware Specs

Reputable blogger MS Nerd stated that the Xbox 720 will be smaller than the existing console, and will be cheaper to help drive Kinect adoption. He continued by saying that "It will use a Zune HD-like hardware platform—a 'main' processor with multiple dedicated assistive cores for graphics, AI, physics, sound, networking, encryption and sensors. It will be custom designed by Microsoft and two partners based on the ARM architecture." [6]

The Xbox 720's System on a Chip began production in late December 2025, according to tech site Fudzilla, and is being made by IBM and Global Foundries for Microsoft. They continued by saying "the power behind the next Xbox will be a PowerPC CPU that is married to an ATI Southern Islands GPU, or modified 7000 series." [7]

In March 2012, British trade magazine MCV stated that Microsoft's next Xbox will not use an optical drive. Instead, a solid state drive will be used to store games. [8]

On February 10, 2012, Xbox World magazine reported that the controller will be "an HD screen surrounded by the traditional 360 buttons and sticks" and that it “could be a remote control when you're watching TV, a browser when you're on the internet, extra buttons and information when you're playing a game or a portable display when you want to take your game with you." [9]

VG247 reported on April 2, 2012 that the next Xbox will feature a blu-ray player and pack an extra processing punch powered by two GPUs, "like two PCs taped together." The graphics card is reported to be equivalent to AMD's 7000 series. CVG (Britain's Xbox magazine) reports that the devkits sent to developers last month purportedly pack a 16-core IBM Power PC CPU. [10]

On June 17th 2012 shifted2u found another leaked document concerning 2 new devices working together called "Xbox Surface" showing the specs of a "tablet computing device" and a separate "stationary computing device". It has been speculated by Jeremy Kopchak that this is indeed the specs of the new Xbox 720 console and its touchscreen controller, WiiU style.

On September 11th 2012 a patent was found by PatentlyApple that was filed in Q1 of 2011 showing plans for a 360 degree 3D projector that would work with Kinect to give the user a 360 environment that could be interacted with. This fits in perfectly with the virtual reality technology leaked previously.

Anti-Used Games?

Sources told Kotaku on January 25, 2012 that the Xbox 720 will have a system that will not allow used-games to be played on the console. [11]

While this claim hasn't yet been corroborated, more rumors surfaced on April 2, 2012 that the next Xbox console will need to be fed off a constant internet connection, which might be one way Microsoft plans to combat used and pirated games. [12]

Possible Xbox 720 Games In Development

• Next-Gen Call of Duty - Developer Infinity Ward posted a job listing on its site calling for a senior animator "with experience in game development and an interest in working with next-generation technologies." [13]
• Bethesda Next-Gen Project - A job listing on Bethesda's site calls for "experienced programmers to work on cutting-edge technology for an unannounced game on future-generation consoles." [14]
• Ready at Dawn Next-Gen Game - The developers of the God of War PSP games are developing "an exciting new AAA IP for a Next-Generation home console game system." [15]
• Next-Gen Sonic Game - Sega notes that Sonic "won't become photo-real" in next-gen games and that he "will always remain stylized and will have that bright, colorful world. What the high hardware spec will allow us to do is make that more convincing." [16]
• THQ Next-Gen Games - THQ CEO Brian Farrell believes development for next-gen consoles offers "a tremendous amount of opportunity." [17]
• Square-Enix "Luminous" Games - Square-Enix is showing off its "Luminous" tech engine, capable of highly realistic next-gen graphics. Luminous will make games 30% cheaper and shorten development cycles. [18]
• Crytek Next-Gen Game - Perhaps Homefront 2 or TimeSplitters 4? Crytek was the company that originally outed the Xbox 720's Durango codename.[19]
• Lionhead Studios Next-Gen Game - The studio (sans Molyneux) has been on the lookout for programmers with experience using the Unreal Engine, and "significant experience leading teams designing and implementing modern rendering engine." Example given is DirectX11, which is rumored to be compatible with the Xbox 360's successor. [20]
• Remedy 'Future-Gen' Game - Alan Wake developer Remedy posted on its community forums that it is hiring more than 20 people for work on a game for "future generation consoles." [21]

Fan-Made Commercials

Fan-made video ads and commercials may be found on YouTube.