No, not as an official product name. “Xbox 720” was an unofficial nickname that fans and bloggers used for Microsoft’s next console before it was revealed. On May 21, 2013, Microsoft unveiled that console as the Xbox One. The hardware project was real; the name “Xbox 720” never belonged to a product Microsoft sold.
Three names for one project
Most of the confusion comes from treating three different kinds of labels as if they were three consoles. They are better kept apart:
| Label | What it was | Status |
|---|---|---|
| “Xbox 720” | An informal nickname used by bloggers and pre-reveal coverage for the expected Xbox 360 successor | Never an official name. Microsoft did not sell a product under it. |
| Project Durango | A development codename reportedly used by engineers, according to contemporaneous reporting in The Washington Post (May 21, 2013) | Internal working name. It was not the name Microsoft announced publicly. |
| Xbox One | The official consumer name Microsoft announced on May 21, 2013 | The product that the nickname referred to. |
What the nickname was
“Xbox 720” followed the pattern of the Xbox 360 name, with the number signalling a successor. It circulated in blogs and rumor coverage for more than a year before the reveal. The Washington Post’s May 21, 2013 rumor roundup described the nickname as bloggers’ shorthand and contrasted it with the name Microsoft was about to announce. Nothing in that coverage indicates that Microsoft had approved or used the name.
Because the nickname was never attached to a retail product, you will not find an Xbox 720 box, SKU, or official model listing. Any product page or image labelled “Xbox 720” is a later fan or retailer reference, not a Microsoft release.
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What Microsoft announced
Microsoft presented the console on May 21, 2013 as Xbox One, describing it as an all-in-one gaming and entertainment system and showing its hardware and features. At the event, Don Mattrick, then president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, introduced the product under the Xbox One name. The announcement also identified the Xbox One Wireless Controller as part of the hardware package.
The reveal date is the one fixed point that matters for dating the name change. Coverage before that date used “Xbox 720” or “Project Durango”; coverage from that date onward uses “Xbox One.”
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Practical guidance for readers
- If you are searching for the console: use the official name, “Xbox One console.” Results for “Xbox 720” will mostly lead to articles, forum threads, or listings that use the nickname.
- If you are checking a listing: confirm that the seller describes an actual Xbox One unit and check the included accessories, the condition, and the return policy. A nickname on a listing does not indicate a different model.
- If you are citing the history: describe “Xbox 720” as an unofficial nickname for the console later announced as Xbox One, and attribute “Project Durango” to contemporaneous reporting rather than to Microsoft’s public announcement.
What the evidence does not settle
The sources reviewed for this article cover the naming history and the May 21, 2013 reveal. They do not provide the internal naming decisions behind the final name, and they do not provide a complete record of every name considered inside Microsoft. Claims beyond the public reveal and the contemporaneous reporting should be treated as unverified.
The sources also do not provide relevant statistics for this question, so none are cited here.
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