This is Microsoft’s Xbox One S All Digital Edition console

UPDATE: Microsoft’s Xbox One S All Digital console has been made official. The images leaked earlier this week? Yeah, those were all real. As was much of the information concerning the disc-less console’s capabilities and extras. That means that players are indeed getting three games pre-installed (Minecraft, Sea of Thieves, Forza Horizon 3), the console is definitely a 1TB machine, and it’s going to cost $250 (about R3,500). That’s not a bad price drop on the existing console.

As far as availability goes, only the States will have it for the 7 May launch date but, according to Windows Central, “…availability is expected across most existing regions.” And we’re in ‘most existing regions’, so if you’ve ever wanted to drop the physical discs, you might just get your chance. Stay tuned.

ORIGINAL STORY: We’ve been expecting something to turn up for a while and now it looks as though the cat may be out of the bag. Images of what appears to be Microsoft’s disc-less console have turned up online, giving us some idea of what the console — known as the Xbox One S All Digital — could look like.

German tech website TechFuture managed to get its hands on some very low-res images that apparently show Microsoft’s Xbox One S All Digital disc-less console. The pictures look like a typical run of media images, showing the console at a range of angles as well as with and without its packaging.

And, at a glance, you could be fooled into thinking not much has changed. It’s only when you note the absence of an optical drive slot that the difference jumps out. You know, the lack of a slot in the front. That’s… about it.

According to the images, the console (or one version of it) will ship with a 1TB internal drive, as well as three games preinstalled. The titles in question are creation favourite Minecraft, the ocean-going Sea of Thieves, and the speedy Forza Horizon 3. Not a bad haul for the first run of games — at least those won’t have to be downloaded. Of course, the trio will take up a substantial amount of drive space as well.

A possible (official) reveal of the console is expected sometime this week, though nothing official has been heard. Microsoft’s console might become available by 7 May this year, though we suspect that South Africa isn’t going to be on the release country list for a while. Because high-speed internet is expensive and relatively rare here at the tip of Africa.

Source: WinFuture (translated) via Engadget