Next-gen Xbox not arriving this year, confirms Microsoft France

Rumors about Microsoft’s successor to the Xbox 360 have been flying lately, but that doesn’t mean a release is imminent. In an interview with Le Point, Microsoft France marketing director Cedrick Delmas stated that it was “certain” there will be no new Xbox released this year. This lines up with recent reports that the as-of-yet unnamed new console would be launching late in 2013, with a GPU based on AMD’s 40nm Radeon 6000 architecture and perhaps even a Blu-ray drive. “The proof is that we haven’t price cut this year,” he told the paper (as translated by Eurogamer).

Competitor Nintendo is prepping to launch the new Wii U in the second half of 2012, but Microsoft appears to feel no pressure for an immediate refresh. “We’re not here to counter Nintendo, and they’re not here to fight the other manufacturers,” Delmas said. “Nintendo has put itself in a different cycle, it’s going forward to its own rhythm, with success as we have seen with the Wii, and now it’s their turn to present their innovation.” Eurogamer also reports earlier rumors that Microsoft is actually working on two new products under the Xbox brand: a high-end successor to the current 360, and a cheaper “set-top box” aimed specifically at Kinect gaming. As for expectations that Microsoft will at least announce new Xbox hardware this summer at E3, Delmas was less definitive, saying only “it’s too early to say.”