Microsoft had announced plans to release Keystone, a specialized Xbox cloud console, a few years back. The device, a little white box intended for Xbox game access via the company’s Xbox Cloud Gaming service, resembled a scaled-down version of the Xbox Series S. Though Microsoft ultimately abandoned their plans to release Keystone, we can get the greatest idea of what the Xbox cloud console may have looked like thanks to a recent patent.
The patent, which was discovered by Windows Central, shows that Keystone would have come with an Ethernet port, an HDMI port, and a power connector. There was a USB-A port, an Xbox button, and a button for connecting controllers on the front. The system rested on a circular “Hello from Seattle” plate made by Microsoft, which is also the same plate used by the larger Xbox Series X.
Microsoft principle designer Chris Kujawski is the named inventor of the 2022 patent. Leading the Xbox Series S / X console design was Kujawski.
Microsoft subsequently discontinued the Keystone device because it was unable to bring the price down to approximately $100, despite having once stated that it planned to release an Xbox streaming device in 2021. Keystone was first seen by Xbox CEO Phil Spencer in 2022 on his desk shelf. According to the official Xbox account on X, Keystone was a “old prototype.”
In a late 2022 interview, Spencer stated, “It was more expensive than we wanted it to be when we actually built it out with the hardware that we had inside,” “We decided to focus that team’s effort on delivering the smart TV streaming app.”
Instead, Microsoft released an Xbox TV app. The Xbox TV app is compatible with Samsung TVs and monitors made after 2022 and up. It allows you to run games from Xbox Cloud Gaming and stream 1080p content at 60 frames per second.