Following a day long review of Project Scorpio development, Xbox boss Phil Spencer confirms that "amazing progress" is being made on the new Xbox One console.
One of the biggest stories of the gaming year is Microsoft's announcement of Project Scorpio. A beefed up Xbox One, the upgraded version of the console promises 4K gaming and high fidelity VR, along with 8 CPU cores and impressive 320 GB per second of memory bandwidth. Set to release in holiday 2017, Microsoft has a good amount of time to keep working on the console, but with high-end specs like that, there's also a lot that could go wrong too.
Thankfully, it seems that things on the good ship Scorpio are running smoothly. At least that's according to head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, who, responding to a fan's question about whether Project Scorpio could be released early, said that "amazing progress" is being made. Furthermore, after a day long review of "where the team is on Scorpio right now," Spencer is "feeling good about schedule."
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With Microsoft having confirmed that Project Scorpio is over four times more powerful than the original Xbox One, it's not surprising that fans are so eager to get their hands on it. Moreover, Microsoft says that some currently available Xbox One games will look better on Project Scorpio, such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and The Division, while first party Xbox One games will run at a native 4K resolution on Project Scorpio too.
However, despite the excitement being palpable, it wouldn't be in Microsoft's best interests to release the console ahead of time. Next month, the PS4 Pro will be released, also offering 4K gaming and the Nintendo Switch release date is in March. Although Project Scorpio could certainly put up a decent fight against both systems, it makes more sense to release the console next year, when the competition is a little less fierce. Plus, Microsoft has said that it wants to give gamers enough time to make the decision that's right for them.
It should also be worth noting that Microsoft only released its other Xbox One hardware upgrade, the Xbox One S, in August. The Xbox One S has been off to an absolutely flying start, carrying Microsoft to victory over Sony for the third month in a row.
Microsoft is already besting its closest rival right now and the company just doesn't need Project Scorpio at the moment to get more sales for the Xbox brand. So, as the saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Project Scorpio will be released in holiday 2017, but a price has not yet been announced.
Source: Phil Spencer — Twitter (via GameSpot)