Microsoft’s canceled Xbox cloud console gets detailed in new patent

Microsoft’s canceled Xbox cloud console gets detailed in new patent

A few years ago, Microsoft was planning to launch a dedicated Xbox cloud console, codenamed Keystone. The device looked like a miniature Xbox Series S, a small white box that was dedicated to accessing Xbox games over the company’s Xbox Cloud Gaming service. Microsoft eventually canceled its plans to launch Keystone, but a new patent gives us the best look at what the Xbox cloud console would have looked like.

Spotted by Windows Central, the patent reveals that Keystone would have shipped with an HDMI port, ethernet, and a power connector. At the front, there was an Xbox button, a controller pairing button, and a USB-A port. Underneath, Microsoft had a circular “Hello from Seattle” plate that the console sat on, similar to what it uses on the larger Xbox Series X.

The patent, filed in 2022, is assigned to Chris Kujawski, a principal designer at Microsoft. Kujawski led the design for the Xbox Series S / X consoles.

The front and rear of the Xbox Keystone device.

Microsoft first announced it was planning an Xbox streaming device in 2021 but eventually canceled its Keystone device because it couldn’t quite get the price to around $100. Xbox chief Phil Spencer revealed Keystone on his office shelf in 2022, with the official Xbox account on X claiming it was an “old prototype.”

“It was more expensive than we wanted it to be when we actually built it out with the hardware that we had inside,” said Spencer in an interview with The Verge in late 2022. “We decided to focus that team’s effort on delivering the smart TV streaming app.”

Microsoft went on to launch an Xbox TV app instead. Available on 2022 and above Samsung TVs and monitors, the Xbox TV app launches games from Xbox Cloud Gaming and supports streaming games at 1080p at up to 60fps.