It's now being rumored that the next-gen Xbox, originally slated to have a big reveal presentation in April, will be revealed in a ceremony in May, a few weeks before E3, which takes place June 11-13. This is according to Microsoft insider Paul Thurrott, who took to Twitter to proclaim that Microsoft is contemplating May 21 as the reveal date for the next-gen Xbox.
"The way to say it is, they planned to have the announcement in April and have pushed it back to May 21 now."
Microsoft was apparently caught off-guard when Sony announced the PlayStation 4 in February, so they may have been scrambling to get the fastest working demo and presentation they could out. However, as time has gone by, the rumors have changed from a March reveal at the Game Developers Conference, held last week, to a big presentation in April, to the new rumor that the company will show off the device in public for the first time in late May. Microsoft has yet to confirm any sort of reveal, period, so naturally they are also mum on why the reveal keeps keeping pushed back.
While Microsoft may be keeping the next-gen Xbox away from the public, many insiders of the industry have spoken about the console. GameStop CEO J. Paul Raines recently called the newest Xbox a "very hot, compelling device". Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat said the next-gen Xbox and the PlayStation 4 are very similar to each other. In addition, a dev kit for the console was allegedly leaked a few weeks ago, indicating many features rumored about the console.
While it appears that many have already seen the newest Xbox behind closed doors, Microsoft must have a compelling reason to keep delaying when the console is to be officially announced. With all the information about the system that has been potentially leaked, it would to Microsoft's advantage to bring forth the system sooner rather than later. After all, it's not like it is much of a secret anymore.