75 Xbox One Prototypes

Last Updated: January 21, 2014

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So far the Xbox One has been a successful console for Microsoft, and recently senior industrial design manage Carl Ledbetter spoke about the process of determining the console’s final design. In particular, he mentioned that Microsoft went through 75 different prototype designs before they settled on the Xbox One unit we know today. These 75 prototypes were sketched and then 3D-printed throughout the process so that the design team members could get a feeling for what the finished product would be like.

The reason behind all of these designs was that Microsoft wanted to be innovative without making any decisions that would turn players away. The console itself was not the only piece to receive such treatment – Microsoft went through over 100 possible designs for the Kinect sensor, while the Xbox One’s controller saw 200 prototypes.

The Xbox One has been well-received, but considering its shape, some fans have been questioning why it took 75 designs to decide “box” was the way to go. A lot more probably went into the design decision that just the basic shape, but it still would be interesting to see what the scrapped prototypes looked like.