Xbox Replies to Developer Worries about Scorpio

Back during Xbox’s E3 Conference, Phil Spencer decided to go all-in on revealing Microsoft’s future plans for the Xbox One video game system. Alongside an updated Xbox One “Slim Edition”, he took the time to officially unveil the next step beyond that with Project Scorpio.

But one of the most pressing concerns introduced from a game development side of the equation is how they would be able to accommodate this half-measure forward in a console generation. In April, Greg Zeschuk spoke with Gamespot on the potential obstacles this hardware decision could make.

“I think, ‘lock it’ and let developers do their thing. But at the end of the day, if you can focus your development effort on one set of hardware requirements and target, you are going to get a better result. It’s easier than having to split it, adding more people, having to port things across.”

Most of the interview has Greg describing the benefits of having a standard set of technology specs across a large consumer base. Everyone having the same hardware components means there’s less of a chance for compatibility problems.

Dave McCarthy, Xbox Head of Operations followed up with Gamespot recently to reassure developers will have a “seamless” experience. “Obviously, listening to their feedback on Xbox One influenced our approach on Xbox One S and has influenced our approach to Project Scorpio overall,” McCarthy told them. “So we really do intend it to be a seamless experience going across that ecosystem of devices, including Windows 10 as much as possible. We’re learning and improving in that space on a regular basis.”

He went on to say Developers find it ideal to write something for specific devices and hardware. “Giving our developers some choice in what they choose to leverage as they do that is key to our whole philosophy moving forward. They’ve responded well to it as we’ve shared the plans with them.”

The Project Scorpio console is set to release by Holiday 2017. While it was initially expected that Sony would formally announce the Playstation Neo at their E3 conference, instead Shawn Layden reassured the public that the Playstation 4 has the hardware needed for the demands of the future of gaming already built-in to their 40 million PS4 consoles.