It turns out that Project Scorpio is more than just an upgrade to the Xbox One. The high-powered console supports 4k and VR, as expected, but really sounds like what would be a next-generation console. The major difference is that it will still support all Xbox One accessories and games. And vice versa.
Here’s everything we know so far:
Project Scorpio is arriving Holiday 2017, which means that, despite Microsoft’s Gaming Beyond Generations tagline, the next generation of console gaming is arriving far sooner than anyone would have expected. Skeptics will likely call this Microsoft throwing in the towel on the current generation of gaming after falling behind Sony in sales, but the continued support and cross-play with the Xbox One suggests otherwise.
6 teraflops
Most power GPU in a console ever
Highest res, best framerate
True 4k resolution
Support for Fallout 4 on VR
8 CPU cores
320 GB per second of memory bandwidth
The reveal is coming much earlier than a new console usually would be announced (there’s not even an image to see yet), but Xbox’s Phil Spencer explains the move…
One potential downside to all of this compatibility is that it sounds like developers won’t be able to make games that are Scorpio exclusive. From what the company explained today, every game will need to have a version that is capable of running on the Scorpio and on the Xbox One or Xbox One S.
Unfortunately, the presentation did not offer an actual look at the hardware. It will be very interesting to see how the box looks and if it appears like an updated Xbox One or if it has a style of its own. There was also no mention of a price point. If the console comes equipped with a VR headset, then this thing isn’t going to be cheap.
What did you think of the Project Scorpio reveal? Let us know in the comments.
Project Scorpio has a release window of Holiday 2017.
