Next-gen Xbox is reportedly codenamed Scarlett and could launch in 2020

The gaming world has been not very patient about hearing any whisper or a rumour which concerns the next-gen Xbox console or the PlayStation 5. Sony had recently announced that the PS4 is nearing the end of its production cycle which meant that the PS5 was in development. Now an interview has spilled the beans on the next-gen Xbox console or the Xbox Scarlett.[caption id="attachment_4504893" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

Representational image.[/caption]Industry analyst Michael Pachter, in an interview with GamingBolt said that he was confident that the next Xbox is coming before the PS5. However, don't get too excited yet. Pachter has estimated that this new Xbox will not see the light of day before 2020.“I’m sure Microsoft intends to launch first, and I am equally certain that the new Xbox will be backwards compatible with any Xbox One X software,”  said Pachter in the interview.Another publication, Thurott has reported that the developer team, which is incidentally the same team which built the Xbox One X, has codenamed the next-gen Xbox as Xbox Scarlett. Now obviously this will not be the production name but since Microsoft has not been naming its consoles in any particular order we can't say for sure what the latest console may be called. Xbox 720 maybe? We're just guessing.As per the report by Thurott, Xbox Scarlett is in all likelihood a hybrid project that will have both a cloud-based box which will stream content directly from the internet and a normal gaming console with top of the line specs. The main point here is that Microsoft is really looking to go all out with the Xbox Scarlett and close the gap on its main rival Sony's PlayStation.In all likelihood, we should be seeing some kind of hardware tease of sorts from Microsoft in next years E3 gaming conference. Maybe a few hints could be dropped at Gamescom next month? In time we are sure to get answers.