Published , by Brittany Vincent
Published , by Brittany Vincent
Microsoft has been working for quite some time now on a rumored project that may or may not be a disc-less Xbox One S console.
As reported by Thurrott.com, the console was reportedly targeting a Q1 2019 launch window at the time. It seems we're now in that very window, and now according to Windows Central, we could be seeing the disc-less Xbox One S console, codenamed Xbox Maveick, releasing in early May 2019 with pre-orders coming mid-April 2019. There's a projected near-global launch for all Xbox markets as well.
The Xbox One S with no disc drive would be a first for Microsoft, and would no longer offer players the ability to play their games from a disc drive, obviously. It would instead mean that players would have to rely only on digital copies of games and the licenses that go with them, making an online connection an absolute necessity.
With subscriptions like the Xbox Game Pass service available, as well as the upcoming Project xCloud option, this kind of future seems more viable than ever, but it's not an option all players will be ready to adopt, obviously. However, it will likely result in a much cheaper console option since there's no disc drive to drive up costs, and that's definitely going to be a point for many buyers – how cheap they can get the system.
Unfortunately, there's no word out there just yet on how much the console could cost, or what changes it would see in addition to the removal of the disc drive. Microsoft may have other news up its sleeve in the future as well, such as a possible Fortnite Edition console with a special Fortnite design instead of just a bundle with the game included. It's not clear if this system would be a disc-less console or what kind of special concessions it would make, but it's something that's definitely on the horizon – and we'd believe it, with how popular Fortnite consistently remains.