As we predicted, there’ll be a smaller ‘Xbox One Slim’ in 2016, more powerful ‘Xbox Two’ in 2017

We’ll see two new Xbox models from Microsoft in the next 18 months, with Microsoft releasing a new, smaller ‘Xbox 1.5’ or Xbox One Slim this year and a larger, full, Xbox Two next year.

The news comes courtesy of our buddies at Kotaku UK, who have worked with their colleagues at Kotaku US to independently verify the info – although the sources understandably remained anonymous.

The advent of two new Xboxes is largely what we predicted in our Xbox Two vs PlayStation Neo feature – right down to the fact that we’d see a smaller console this year followed by a more powerful release at a later date.

The 2017 Xbox is code-named Scorpio, with more powerful graphics and is presumably fully 4K compatible. The exciting bit is that Xbox Scorpio will be Oculus-ready. Kotaku UK says that Microsoft is “pursuing a partnership with Oculus”.

The 2016 variant, which we’ll call Xbox 1.5 or Xbox One Slim for easy segregation, will debut at next month’s E3 2016. It is expected to have a 2TB hard drive instead of the current 1TB.

Microsoft’s strategy to merge Windows 10 and Xbox (known as Project Helix, according to one Kotaku UK source) continues apace as well, says Kotaku UK’s Keza MacDonald: “Developer sources have told us that Microsoft’s new mandate is to release future games – including the flagship Halo series – on both platforms. The recently cancelled Fable Legends, which was playable across Windows 10 and Xbox One, was one of the first games to implement this strategy.”

Head over to Kotaku for the full story.