This is what Xbox’s cloud gaming console could have looked like, according to a newly revealed patent

Remember Microsoft’s Xbox cloud gaming console, codenamed Keystone? The one that was announced in 2021, was canceled in its original form a year later, and then reappeared on Phil Spencer’s shelf after that, confusing everyone? Well, if you’ve ever wondered what it might have looked like in more detail, a recently surfaced patent might have some answers.

The patent in question was originally filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in June 2022 – several months after Microsoft announced it would no longer continue with Keystone in its current form – and outlines designs for a machine offered only called “electronic”. console device”. There is nothing explicitly related between the document and Keystone, but Windows Central claims that that is precisely what it is about.

A side-by-side comparison with the “old prototype” Keystone that appeared on Phil Spencer’s desk in October 2022 also supports this claim, with both the patented version and the prototype version featuring the same front panel.

The patent, however, reveals much more of the design that Microsoft was apparently considering at one point for its cloud-streaming games console. It has a lot in common with the current Xbox Series S, even though that machine’s horizontal footprint is compacted into a square. It’s also pictured with an Xbox Series X-style “Hello from Seattle” plaque on its bottom.

As for the ports on this proposed form – credited to Microsoft lead designer Chris Kujawski – there’s an Xbox button and USB port on the front, a controller pairing button on one side, as well as HDMI, Ethernet and power connectors on the back. And aside from a whole bunch of heat dissipation holes, that’s your fate: No details about the machine’s innards are revealed in the patent.

When Microsoft discussed Keystone’s progress in May 2022, it said it had “made the decision to move away from the current iteration” of the device and would refocus its efforts on a “new approach” . Xbox boss Phil Spencer later confirmed the project was abandoned because it was “more expensive than we wanted when we built it with the hardware we had inside” – and that Microsoft’s “new approach” was its Xbox TV app. , allowing users to stream Xbox Cloud Gaming titles in 1080p and up to 60fps.

So while Xbox’s square dreams of a dedicated cloud gaming console may be long dead, its ambitions in the game streaming space are far from over.