Categories: News

Not even Phil Spencer wants to release a new Xbox every two years; More details on Project Scorpio

At this point, we pretty much know the console cycle. After a number of years of having a console on the market, console developers announce a new console and everyone moves on to the next generation. This cycle got a bit messed up with the announcement of Sony's PS4 Pro and Microsoft's Scorpio.

These consoles promise more power than the original consoles but are releasing only three years after the PS4 and Xbox One released. The announcement of these two consoles made a big part of the gaming community worried that the console cycle would be forever altered to a new more powerful console every two years.

Luckily, that doesn't seem to be the case – at least as far as Microsoft head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, is concerned.

"I don’t have this desire to every two years have a new console on the shelf", Phil Spencer explained to Game Informer. "That’s not part of the console business model, and it doesn’t actually help us. The best customer I have is somebody who buys the original Xbox and just buys all the games. That’s the best customer for us in terms of the pure financials of it […] I’m not trying to turn consoles into the graphics card market."

Here's what Phil is planning after Scorpio releases:

"To be completely honest, I don’t know what the next console is past Scorpio. We’re thinking about it. We’re looking at consumer trends and what the right performance spec and price would be, and [asking ourselves], 'Can we hit something that has a meaningful performance characteristic that a gamer would care about?'"

When it comes to Scorpio, Phil doesn't want anyone to think the Xbox One will be a crutch. Game development for Scorpio will be similar to the Xbox One's and to how devs cater to different PC builds.

"I know from a pure console perspective I hear, “Hey, you’re going to drag Scorpio down by making devs continue to support the Xbox One.” But anyone that has played PC games knows that PCs have a minimum spec, a recommended spec and an unbounded spec. And I don’t think anybody says, “Wow, Battlefield at the top-end is somehow held back by its ability to support [low-end PCs].” Devs know how to build scalable games. They already do."

We won't really know the reality of what Scorpio or PS4 mean to the gaming world until they release, but hopefully neither will negatively affect anything.

Tatiana Morris

I work here, so at least I've got that going for me. Catch me on Twitter @TatiMo_GZ

Share
Published by
Tatiana Morris

Recent Posts

Review: Hitman 3 is the peak of the trilogy

To kick off 2021, we have a glorious return to one of the best franchises…

4 years ago

Hogwarts Legacy has been delayed to 2022

Last summer, we got our first official look at Hogwarts Legacy. The RPG set in…

4 years ago

EA to continue making Star Wars games after deal expires

Today, it was revealed that Ubisoft would be helming a brand-new Star Wars game. The…

4 years ago

PS5 Exclusive Returnal talks combat, Glorious Sci-Fi frenzy ensues

Housemarque shared lots of new details about their upcoming PS5 game Returnal. Today, we learn…

4 years ago

Lucasfilm Games confirms Open-World Star Wars handled by Ubisoft

Huge news concerning the future of Star Wars games just broke out. Newly revived Lucasfilm…

4 years ago

GTA 5 actors recreate iconic scene in real life

GTA 5 is probably the biggest game of all-time. It has sold over 135 million…

4 years ago