Xbox One external storage aims to be "open"

Though Microsoft's plans for external storage support on the Xbox One remain up in the air, director of product planning Albert Penello said today that the goal is to make it "open."

"Haven't landed on the specifics. I've learned not to speculate until the plan is baked," Penello said to a fan on Twitter. "The intention is to be open…"

By "open" we have to imagine he means any external hard drive will be supported, though of course this is not confirmed. The Xbox 360 currently only supports 32GB USB drives.

The Xbox One has a 500GB hard drive, which, unlike the PlayStation 4, cannot be replaced and upgraded. Because all Xbox One games must be installed (and file sizes can be up to 40GB), that 500GB drive is no doubt going to become an issue for some gamers down the road.

Microsoft teased this week that external hard drive storage will come to the Xbox One via a future update. "We know external hard drive storage is another big one on your list," Xbox chief product officer Marc Whitten said. "It's on our list too. We're working on that for a future update and will keep you posted."