Xbox 720 Release Date Pushed Forward to April

(Photo: Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon)
Visitors play with Microsoft's Xbox consoles at the Tokyo Game Show in Chiba, east of Tokyo, in this file photo.

By Vincent Funaro , Christian Post Reporter

February 22, 2013|3:25 pm

The Xbox 720 release might have been pushed forward to April by Microsoft.

The company is now rumored to be holding a "one-off media event" to show off the new system that will take place in the beginning of April.

Microsoft was originally expected to unveil the console at this year's E3 gamers conference in June, but due to the recent PlayStation 4 unveiling by Sony, the company seems to want to get things moving a little quicker.

News on this April event was reported by Computer & Video Games and National Alliances Securities analyst Mike Hickey has expected Microsoft to hold this April event for quite some time.

The Xbox 720 unveiling could come around the time of the Game Developers Conference, which is at the end of March. However, this event has not been confirmed by the company at this time.

Former Microsoft executive Joachim Kempin recently spilled the beans on the Xbox 720's specifications. Kempin suggested that the console will somehow incorporate a touchscreen and that it is also starting to look a lot more like Windows 8.

Kempin stated that "on the [console] itself there is no profit" for Microsoft, and that revenue will be collected from royalties from game developers and profits from each release of a new Halo game.

Kempin claims that Microsoft will need more than just a specifications bump in order to succeed with the new console. The company's main goal should be to figure out a way to bring the PC environment into the 21st century.

There are countless rumors surrounding the Xbox 720; one of them points to the Xbox 720 having the Kinect accessory found on the 360 directly built in to it.

This rumor originated from a leak of illustrations that demonstrated some of the system's features. The leaked images show how the new Xbox system will be able to track four players simultaneously and how it will have stronger integration with the PC and Windows Phone 8.