In the history of gaming, there has never been a cutting-edge console that can also keep your fried chicken crispy and warm. Until now.

After weeks of promises (and the occasional delay, which was a not-so-subtle dig at CD Projekt Red and Cyberpunk 2077), Kentucky Fried Chicken has made good by delivering the first look at their KFConsole. Fans of the slightly skewed fast-food marketing content over at @KFCGaming thought that this was all a well-crafted joke right up until last night when the gaming rig / chicken-warmer itself was revealed. Some might still be skeptical and rightfully so. However, the fact that Cooler Master is in on the design (or at least in on the joke) lends lots of credibility to the new console.

Check out the reveal video for the KFConsole here:

You can head to Cooler Master's KFConsole page for more details, but we've got a breakdown of the rig's specs and potential price point here:

  • Cooler Master's KFConsole promises "the latest titles in stunning 4k, 240fps"
  • The company's mod team, led by the Swedish craftsman "Timpelay", is responsible for this beauty, including:
  • Chassis: Custom build of Cooler Master's NC100 (about $200 USD)
  • Intel Nuc 9 Extreme Compute Element: A PCIe-based module with an 9th Gen Intel mobile chip inside, basically housing multiple components in one easy-to-use container (about $1,000)
  • GPU: An unknown Asus RTX-supported graphics card in the rig's "hot-swappable GPU slot" (about $250 - $500)
  • SSD: Two (2) Seagate Barracuda / Firecuda 1TB SSD (about $200)
  • VR-ready with Ray-Tracing technology, 240FPS with 240Hz output, and 4K-quality gaming
KFConsole
Image via KFC, Cooler Master

No matter what the performance actually ends up being, the KFConsole will be the first (and likely only) video game player with a built-in Chicken Warmer: "[T]he patented Chicken Chamber. Utilising the systems natural heat and airflow system you can now focus on your gameplay and enjoy hot, crispy chicken between rounds." One wonders if that's how Cooler Master and KFC will get around the cooling issues of the run-hot tech in this rig; it remains to be seen whether or not you need a piece of chicken in the chamber to make sure everything runs cool.

You probably noticed that there's no mention of a disc drive in this thing, so it's probably akin to the digital-only console cousins from Sony and Microsoft. Update: An earlier look at the console this past June teased cross-platform capability and zoomed in on an apparent disc drive -- you can see it for yourself below -- but either that's disappeared in the actual making of this thing or there will be a disc version and a digital version. Regardless, neither KFC nor Cooler Master has mentioned a disc drive by name, brand or spec:

But the fact that the KFConsole has a bunch of easily swappable components (including the chicken) actually gives the off-brand platform a leg up (or is it a drumstick?) Though at a potential speculative price point of around $2,000, and sure to be a limited supply, this promises to be more of a collector's item than a common console.

KFConsole
Image via KFC, Cooler Master

Mark Cheevers, PR & social media lead at KFC UK & Ireland, had this to say via press release:

"This machine is capable of running games at top-level specs, all on top of keeping your meal warm for you to enjoy during your gaming experience... what's not to like? If Sony or Microsoft want any tips on how to engineer a chicken chamber for their efforts next time, they'd be welcome to get in touch."

As CNN reported, "Intel said it had nothing to add to details released by Cooler Master or KFC and did not comment on pricing or release date when contacted by CNN. KFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment." Stay tuned!