The “leaks” were part of evidence seen in the Microsoft versus FTC court case, which is currently running. They showed a more powerful, disk-free Xbox Series X refresh coming as soon as next year.

But Xbox boss Phil Spencer is warning that players shouldn’t put too much stock in what he called “old emails and documents.”

He said it was hard to see his team’s work shared in this way because so much has changed and there was so much to be excited about now and in the future.

“We will share the real plans when we are ready.”

Spencer followed up that post with a memo sent to the Xbox team, apologising for the unintentional disclosure of internal plans.

“I know this is disappointing, even if many of the documents are well over a year old and our plans have evolved… I also know we all take the confidentiality of our plans and our partners’ information very seriously. This leak is not us living up to that expectation... That said, there’s so much more to be excited about, and when we’re ready, we’ll share the real plans with our players.”

A representative for the FTC blamed Microsoft for the leak and denied it was involved.

FTC Director of the Office of Public Affairs Douglas Farrar pointed to a court order resealing the leaked information (too late for it to kill the story), which notes that “Microsoft provided the link on September 14, and the Court uploaded the exhibits to the internet page established for this case.”