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What should Microsoft call the next Xbox?

What should Microsoft call the next Xbox?

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The next phase of the unending console wars is starting to heat up, with Sony announcing that the successor to the PlayStation 4 will, predictably, be called the PlayStation 5.

But the news got us wondering: what will Microsoft call its next-generation Xbox console, which is currently using codename “Project Scarlett”? Unlike Sony, which tends to stick to strictly utilitarian names for its consoles — PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, with a few self-explanatory “Slim” or “Pro” variants thrown in — Microsoft has tended toward what we’ll call... creative branding.

There’s no obvious pattern here

There’s no obvious pattern. There was the original Xbox, which is a good place to start. But that was followed by the Xbox 360, which had two midcycle refreshes, the Xbox 360 S (allegedly for “slim”) and the Xbox 360 E (for... something that starts with an “e”). That circularly named console was followed by the Xbox One, the current generation, which has since gotten another two midcycle models, the Xbox One S and the tongue-twisting Xbox One X.

All of that means guessing the next Xbox name will be a far more difficult task than just applying an “f(n) = n+1” formula like we can with Sony. I’ve assembled The Verge’s expert team of product name analysts to compile a list of our best guesses at Project Scarlett’s real name.

Vote in the poll below or sound off in the comments if you think you’ve got a better idea.

Poll

What will Microsoft’s “Project Scarlett” Xbox be called?

This poll is closed

  • 11%
    Xbox Two
    (979 votes)
  • 4%
    Xbox 720
    (367 votes)
  • 22%
    Just “Xbox”
    (1909 votes)
  • 6%
    Xbox Pro
    (567 votes)
  • 4%
    Xbox+
    (315 votes)
  • 15%
    Xbox Infinite
    (1272 votes)
  • 1%
    Xbox VII Remake
    (73 votes)
  • 5%
    Xbox Next
    (478 votes)
  • 4%
    Xbox Prime
    (322 votes)
  • 1%
    Xbox Free Vbucks
    (128 votes)
  • 3%
    Xbox II Turbo HD Remix
    (226 votes)
  • 7%
    Xbox HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue 358/2 Days χ[chi] øø™
    (594 votes)
  • 5%
    Xbox It Plays Halo
    (451 votes)
  • 12%
    Xbox Scarlett
    (1080 votes)
8761 votes total