In a statement to Game Informer, Microsoft Studios has gone on record to say that, contrary to recent rumors, the company will not announced a successor to the Xbox 360 at E3 2012 or “anytime soon”.
Group PR Manager, Ryan James told the magazine:
“While we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon.”
“For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360—and it’s the best year ever for Xbox 360. The console is coming off its biggest year ever—a year in which Xbox outsold all other consoles worldwide.”
Sony has also stated that they will not be revealing a new console at this June’s E3, leaving Nintendo’s Wii U as the only known console hardware announcement at the show.
In a normal console cycle letting one company go uncontested during the video game industry’s biggest event would be a bad idea, however, things are a bit different this generation. The Wii U is not expected to be much more powerful than the current HD consoles and as such it will likely not have much third-party software that can’t also be found on the Xbox 360 or PS3. During the Wii U’s debut year, Microsoft and Sony would be much better served to fight any sales momentum that Nintendo’s new console might have with price drops on their current offerings. New hardware announcements by either company this year would do little more than hurt their existing sales.
