white xbox one

A few days ago, NeoGAF user ntkrnl took to the internet to dish out about a million Xbox rumors. You can read a summary of them here, but the breadth of information is astonishing, including a Halo 2 Anniversary edition, Halo 5 info, a release date for Sunset Overdrive, and mention of the already-rumored Crackdown 3. Of course, it’s hard to take all of this as fact – this is the internet, after all.

However, a couple sites have reached out to sources and have been able to verify a few things. The Verge was able to confirm that the white, employees-only Xbox One will see a wider release sometime in the future. VG247 followed up with a source in the publishing community and has discovered that a cheaper SKU is indeed coming sometime in 2014. It’s not yet certain what exactly about the new bundle will make it cheaper than the existing Xbox One though.

One theory is that the cheaper SKU will forgo having a Bluray drive, meaning that the only way to play games will be by downloading them. Respected industry analyst Michael Pachter had some harsh words about this potential idea, stating, “To my friends at Microsoft, and to all of my friends who would like to see Microsoft fail: If this rumor is true, it is one of the dumbest ideas of all time.”

Whether Microsoft does release a new SKU or simply drops the price on the existing one, it’s probably still a safe bet to say that there will be a cheaper Xbox One sometime in 2014.

Source: VG247 via GamesIndustry.biz, NeoGAF, The Verge