A job posting by Microsoft on its careers website may suggest that the next Xbox games console will be released within 18 months, although they had denied about any sort of timing a day before the ad appeared.

Xbox 720 news is thin and it is quite obvious that Microsoft should keep quiet about possible release dates as they are still hard at work selling the current system, the Xbox 360. This job listing posted yesterday (August 9th) is looking for a Director of Marketing and Communications and goes on to explain, “Over the next eighteen months Microsoft will release new versions of all of our most significant products including Windows (Client, Server, Phone and Azure), Office and Xbox”, plus along with completely new offerings like Microsoft Surface. Maybe it was another accidental leak –  (or they found the right person for the role in a day?) – as they have removed the job ad from the website.

Earlier in the week, Brian Hall from Microsoft, also talked of the next-gen Xbox 720 being released in tandem with other major upcoming products from the company,  being Windows 8 OS for desktop and tablets, a Windows Phone 8 based smartphone and Microsoft Surface tablet.

Sony and Nintendo are also in the process of developing their next consoles, with the Nintendo Wii U coming out later this year, so expect Microsoft to be launching one in the near future, most likely holiday season 2013 or early 2014.