When Phil Spencer shows off his shelf, the internet unites to look for clues. It rarely amounts to much, but fans are right to be skeptical after it was confirmed the Xbox Series S console was hidden on his shelf months before release.
Yesterday, Spencer posted a picture of his shelf which featured a suspicious stick-like device with Xbox branding. The leading theory online was that this is the Xbox streaming stick, and it seems we were half right. The device can be seen on the top shelf in the tweet below, it’s the white stick with a black Xbox logo.
Vault Boy left the shelter and stopped by my office to celebrate the #Fallout25 Anniversary. Congratulations to the @Fallout @Bethesda teams on this major milestone for an iconic franchise. pic.twitter.com/hGoN1sAQRK
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) October 10, 2022
Microsoft confirmed in a statement to Eurogamer that this is a prototype of Keystone, the Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming stick. However, earlier this year Microsoft announced the decision to shift away from the prototype form of Keystone, and toward a different approach. The full statement, courtesy of Eurogamer, follows.
“The device on Phil’s shelf was an old prototype of Keystone. 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. We have nothing more to share today.”
Keystone was an exciting project, allowing those with reliable internet connections to take the Xbox experience to any device around the house. It’s likely the stick would also serve as a media player too, similar to the Amazon Fire TV Stick or the Google Chromecast. What form Keystone will take next is unknown, but we’ll be sure to share updates as they come.
Would you use an Xbox streaming device? Let us know in the comments below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more gaming news.
