Spencer: ‘I’m not a big fan of Xbox 1.5’

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has poured cold water on talk of a mid-generation upgrade for the Xbox One.

"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 at the Microsoft’s Build 2016 Developer Conference, as reported by Game Informer.

"I don’t know anything about any of the rumours 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."

The most obvious reading of this is that Spencer is ruling out the rumoured upgrade that is apparently in the works for Xbox One. An alternative reading could argue that in fact Spencer is pointing to a shorter cycle for the current Xbox One and a sooner-than-expected shift to a brand new piece of hardware.

It seems certain at this point that Sony is planning to release an upgraded version of the PS4, called either the PS4K or the PS4.5, before the end of the year. Sources have also pointed to a similar move being in the works at Microsoft.

Indeed, Spencer himself has even alluded to the possibility.