Rumor: Next Xbox to be revealed on May 21, cost $500 for base or $300 for subscription model, and launch in November

The next Xbox will cost $500 for the standard model or $300 for the “subscription” model, require an internet connection, and launch in “early November,” according to sources of WhatTheTech‘s Paul Thurrott. 

“Durango is going to be expensive [laughs], you know $500, $300 for the subscription, that kind of thing, but you know, Blu-ray, blah blah blah,” said Thurrott in his latest podcast. “But the thing that interests me, going back and looking at some of the stuff I got a long time ago, it actually says ‘must be internet-connected to use’ in the notes. And that’s all I have, but it does say that.”

Recent rumors have echoed the same. A Microsot developer may have even indirectly confirmed it earlier this week.

“I don’t know [if that’s a bad thing] because I don’t know what it means,” he added. “You know, when you look at some of the stories that were coming out this week about, you know, I saw a headline that said something like ‘Next Xbox could be okay without an internet connection for as long as 3 minutes’ or something like that. I don’t even know what that means.

“For me, Xbox 360 is almost entirely an online experience. Most of the games I play are multiplayer, where you’re playing against other people online. Or you’re using it as an entertainment device when you’re connected to a service like Netflix or Xbox video, so that is an internet-connected device.”

The new Xbox’s reveal was scheduled for later this month, according to Thurrott, but has since been pushed to late May.

“Originally, they were going to announce this thing in April—April 24—now they’re going to announce it May 21,” he said. “We know there are events occurring this year where we’re going to learn more about Durango.

Those events include E3 and BUILD, both in June, the latter of which Microsoft will discuss the “developer story,” as the system is a “Windows 8 device” with “the same, or basically the same, developer tools and developer APIs,” according to Thurrott.

“I look at all this stuff that I’ve seen about Durango and I think, ‘it’s all positive.’ I don’t really see any bad news here at all. Like to me, everything I’ve seen about this is really positive. It’s amazing to me that, based on like no information at all, everyone is like freaking out about everything.”

Thurrott added, “I’ve actually heard from, by the way not one or two people, several people who’ve said, ‘based on what I’ve seen, Sony is going to blow them away.’ Based on what you’ve seen? You’ve seen nothing. What are you talking about? No, but you’ve seen literally nothing from Microsoft.”