Xbox Streaming Console Prototype Spotted On Phil Spencer’s Shelf

Phil Spencer enjoys using his Twitter feed to tease new happenings at Xbox, and this particular device might herald an interesting new future for the brand. Spencer’s latest shelf tweet included an old prototype of Xbox’s Keystone streaming device, which caused many to wonder if an official reveal was imminent.

However, according to a statement that Xbox provided to Eurogamer, it seems that this was more of a hint at a new direction for Keystone than anything. “The device on Phil’s shelf was an old prototype of Keystone,” it reads in part. “Earlier this year, we announced that we made the decision to pivot away from the current iteration of Keystone and are taking our learnings to refocus our efforts on a new approach that will allow us to deliver Xbox Cloud Gaming to more players around the world in the future.”

This statement is extremely similar to another that Xbox put out earlier this year. In May, Windows Central reported that Microsoft is developing a streaming stick or box that would utilize cloud gaming technology with the codename Keystone. That led Microsoft to confirm that the project was in the works, but that the company decided to “pivot away” from that prototype. So, in other words, there’s very little that’s new here, other than Phil Spencer revealing the box to us all.

Make no mistake: Though Stadia may have failed spectacularly, there’s definitely a future for cloud gaming, and Xbox knows it. The continued popularity of Xbox Game Pass has set Microsoft up to do well in that sector, so it’s only a matter of time before we see what the next version of Keystone actually is.