It’s like a Dan Brown novel, but even dorkier: Tech enthusiasts have uncovered secret messages in a set of Microsoft teaser videos that may hint at the release date for the Xbox “Project Scorpio” console. Plus some other clues. Maybe.

Where’s Robert Langdon when you need him?

The teaser videos seem innocuous enough: They’re promotional pieces designed to generate excitement ahead of Microsoft’s E3 reveal next week. The theme of each is “Feel True Power,” a reference to expectations that this new Xbox will be the most powerful and capable console in the market for the foreseeable future.

Two potential clues have been found in these videos. The first is a small sign that appears to read “6 > 4” (six is greater than four), which could be interpreted as a comparison of the GPU performance of Xbox “Project Scorpio” (6 teraflops) compared to its only real rival, the Sony PlayStation 4 Pro (4 teraflops).

That one flashes by quick, but you can see it easily enough. The second one has resisted my attempts to capture a still frame. But according to many, including the Twitter user who first found it, the video includes the text “X10S101-317.” Which maybe, just maybe, is a date.

Maybe.

This is a bit of a stretch, for sure. But the first bit of that text, “X10S,” could be a shortened form of “Xbox One Scorpio,” which some are now speculating is the final name of the console.

The rest of it, “101-317,” if rewritten without the dash, becomes 101317, which could be seen as a poorly-written, American-style date: October (10) 13, 2017 (17). Which, doing a bit of my own research, I’ve discovered is a Friday. Which means it’s possibly the console release date.

As Mary Jo pointed out on this week’s Windows Weekly, however, that date falls outside of the date range for the Scorpio astrological sign, which runs from October 23 to November 21. It’s a bit goofy that Microsoft would miss this date range. And yet so typically Microsoft, right?

Now, video game enthusiasts are busy looking for other clues in Microsoft’s videos. But here’s a better idea, folks. Get outside and enjoy the spring. The Xbox Project Scorpio reveal is just a few days away for crying out loud.

Tagged with Scorpio