No, Microsoft isn’t working on an Xbox NeXt

Like most major technology company, Microsoft is often the subject of rumor. Whether it’s the future of Windows phones, when a major new operating system will release, or who the company might acquire, there’s bound to be a rumor (or fifty). Lately, one rumor that gained some traction is that Microsoft was planning a new Xbox console dubbed Xbox NeXt.

According to Techspot, the rumor began with a random LinkedIn posting by a Microsoft employee:

Rumors that we might see some form of Xbox 1.5 went into overdrive recently when a Microsoft employee, David Gardner, posted a listing for the “Xbox neXt” on his LinkedIn profile. After much speculation that this could be the company’s answer to the PlayStation 4.5/PS4K, Microsoft has now confirmed that this is nothing more than an old internal team name.

From there, things progressed, even though Microsoft Xbox chief Phil Spencer had already indicated that there aren’t any plans for a new Xbox One console.

I’m not a big fan of Xbox One and a half. If we’re going to move forward, I want to move forward in big numbers,” Spencer said. “I don’t know anything about any of the rumors that are out there, but I can understand other teams’ motivations to do that. For us, our box is doing well. It performs, it’s reliable, the servers are doing well. If we’re going to go forward with anything, like I said, I want it to be a really substantial change for people – an upgrade.

While Microsoft could certainly reveal an upgrade to the Xbox One at some point, the current Xbox NeXt rumor doesn’t fit the narrative. According to Microsoft:

“Xbox neXt was an old internal team name for a group that worked on releasing Xbox One and is not related to a future console,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “We have nothing further to share.”

We’ll likely be waiting for awhile to learn about Microsoft’s plans with regard to the Xbox hardware platform. In the meantime, we’ll just have to settle for all of the attention that Microsoft is lavishing on the Xbox One from a software perspective.