Project Scorpio pricing and feature details haven't been officially revealed yet, and, in an interview with 2p.com, Xbox China head Xie Enwei continued to tow the company line. He suggested the system will have an attractive price and may have some pretty sweet mixed reality and VR features too.
Talking of cost, Enwei told the publication that “the final price for Project Scorpio is still in discussion, and Xbox will try its best to offer an affordable price.”
Read: Layered Windows 10 UI Teases What Scorpio Menus Might Look Like
The first half of that quote is particularly interesting, but also worth taking with a grain of salt. With Scorpio planned for its big reveal at E3 next month, marketers have likely narrowed down a U.S. price for the system already. While important consumer-facing decisions can sometimes be deliberated until the very last second, we feel Enwei is most likely talking about China’s Scorpio price as opposed to the United States. After all, a Chinese Scorpio console was announced just days ago.
For those who’ve already jumped on the Scorpio bandwagon, however, pricing may be irrelevant. Instead the attraction is all about features. While the 2017 hardware has only officially been announced as “VR-ready,” Enwei said mixed reality and virtual reality “provide lots of possibilities” for creators. What’s more, it’s added that “what we will see at this year’s E3 will blow our minds.” Might this tease signal the Oculus or Vive partnership we’ve long speculated about? It’s certainly a possibility.
The rest of the interview wasn’t quite as descriptive. Beyond affordable VR, it was mentioned that Scorpio will play some of this year’s most anticipated games in full 4K including FIFA 18, Call Of Duty: WWII, Madden 18, and Star Wars Battlefront II. When Read Dead Redemption 2 releases in 2018, the title will reportedly support Scorpio 4K as well.
Read: Project Scorpio Can Potentially Change VR As We Know It
While this interview is the latest official update on Scorpio’s pricing situation we’ve seen in quite some time, it doesn’t necessarily tell us much. In fact, it more or less echoes words said by Xbox president Phil Spencer as far back as December of last year. At that time Spencer said Scorpio’s cost would be “console-like” and different from high-end PC pricing. As such, most analysts suspect the console will cost somewhere around the Xbox One launch price of $499.
Aside from playing the hottest games at the highest resolutions, Project Scorpio also represents a new pillar for Microsoft with regard to Windows 10 home integration. Just as Windows begins building support for VR and mixed reality into its various Creators Updates, it’s no surprise some of that DNA will be incorporated into Xbox. One major question that remains is just how much the burgeoning technology will be represented. Despite fairly solid initial sales of VR headsets, developers still seem hesitant to create games that leverage the hardware.
Project Scorpio pricing and release details are expected to revealed during Microsoft’s E3 2017 press briefing. The event is set to take place June 11 at 2 p.m. ET.
What do you think is a far price for Project Scorpio? Are you buying it with VR in mind? Tell us in the comments section!
