There have been a number of Xbox units which have by no means come to fruition, one in every of which was Keystone, a prototype for an inexpensive recreation streaming machine you possibly can hook as much as your TV or monitor. Thanks to a surfaced patent, we’ve gotten a good nearer take a look at what it could’ve probably seemed like.
The patent, first noticed by Windows Central, provides us a extra full view of the machine. We’ve beforehand seen the Keystone within the flesh. Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer is thought for hiding teases and fascinating collectibles on the shelf in his workplace. In a 2022 X (formerly Twitter) post congratulating Bethesda on Fallout’s twenty fifth anniversary, you may see a small white machine on the highest shelf that’s actually a Keystone prototype. Xbox advised Digital Developments that it was a model of the machine made earlier than it determined to “refocus our efforts on a brand new method.”
So we knew that the Keystone seemed loads like a miniature Xbox Series S from the entrance, however we get a extra 360-degree view from diagrams within the patent. The entrance has the signature Xbox energy button together with a USB-A port. The again has HDMI, Ethernet, and energy ports, whereas there seems to be a pairing button on the best.
As an alternative of a rectangle, the general design is a sq. with a circle on prime and a stand on the underside. It’s a fairly compact package deal, which is sensible contemplating it was purported to be an HDMI streaming machine principally for Xbox Game Pass and Cloud Streaming.
The corporate has invested loads into its Sport Move subscription service. The Final tier comes with Cloud Streaming, permitting you to stream from an enormous gaming library on virtually any machine. Whereas the discless Xbox Collection S was one iteration of a digital-only gaming console, it nonetheless allow you to purchase and obtain video games from the shop. The Keystone would’ve been nearer to a streaming stick that was moveable and was solely used for streaming. Nevertheless, in an interview with The Verge, Spencer revealed that the mission was discontinued due to pricing.
“It was dearer than we needed it to be once we truly constructed it out with the {hardware} that we had inside,” he mentioned. “We determined to focus that group’s effort on delivering the sensible TV streaming app.”
And with bulletins just like the Xbox app coming to Fire TV devices like streaming sticks, it’s unlikely we’ll see a devoted machine from Xbox like this once more any time quickly.
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