If you’ve been following the news about the next console from Microsoft, one thing has become glaringly obvious. The Xbox Project Scorpio price is going to be high. It won’t just be the most powerful console; it will also be the most expensive. And in a recent interview, Microsoft Xbox boss Phil Spencer confirmed that it will cost more than the One S, but he failed to elaborate further.
Phil Spencer on the Xbox Project Scorpio price
You probably already guessed that a console which offers 8 CPU cores, 6 Terraflops of power, True 4K gaming, VR, and 320 GB/s memory bandwidth, there would be a drawback. However, while the price may be high, those who feel the need to own a premium console have probably already decided to buy it in 12 months’ time.
In a recent interview with Levelup, Spencer reiterated that the Scorpio will be a “premium device.” He said:
“Scorpio will be a premium console; It will cost more than [the Xbox One] S obviously. That’s how we’re building it. We haven’t announced price points for Scorpio yet, but I want to make sure that the investments we’re putting into the product of Scorpio meets the demands of the higher end customer, and that will be a higher price.”
So you can expect the Xbox Project Scorpio price to be more than that of the Xbox One S at $399 for the 2TB launch edition. However, this means that it will also be more expensive than the 1TB PlayStation 4 Pro at $399.99, which is a more powerful console than the One S. So what does this mean for the Xbox Project Scorpio price?
High-end gaming at a premium price
A spokesperson for Microsoft recently said the Scorpio would offer true 4K, high-end PC gaming in a console, and like a high-end gaming PC, its contents will be worth thousands of dollars.
In another conversation, Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg described Scorpio as the “most powerful console anyone has ever seen.” So again, what does this mean for the Xbox Project Scorpio price? We think it’s likely to be the most expensive game console ever, and while this will take it to a price point beyond that of the One S and the PS4 Pro, it’s likely that this will be no more than $100 more, making the Xbox Project Scorpio price around $499.
Is it worth the extra?
Sony’s PS4 Pro will have had a head start, as Project Scorpio isn’t expected to come to market around this Christmas 2017. However, when it comes to 4K gaming, Scorpio will have the ability to render games like no other console.
Said to offer “true 4K gaming,” Greenberg talked about this at the Fanfest in Mexico City:
“This will really bring the most powerful console you’ve ever seen. It will bring these really true 4K, really incredible visual games that we’ve never seen before on the console. People who have spent thousands of dollars on a high-end PC are getting that experience. How do we bring that to scale in a console in your living room? That’s a big part of what Project Scorpio is about.”
While there has been no official talk of the Xbox Project Scorpio price, we believe that $499 is realistic, if not a little low, particularly for a home console which promises so much. We can’t see how Microsoft could manage to develop and retail a device without the extra cost. However, it wouldn’t be the first company to take a hit in the profit department to get a device out of the door. We’ll just have to wait and see what more is revealed during 2017.
Xbox family
One final point that Phil Spencer touched on was that Scorpio will not replace the Xbox One S. Instead, it will join its less powerful sibling, creating an Xbox family of devices. Even so, it’s thought that the next Xbox will be backwards compatible, giving the owner of devices such as the One and 360 a means of keeping their existing game libraries.
With the Xbox Project Scorpio price now officially confirmed to be higher than that of the One S, the floodgates are open for speculation about how it could compete with the PS4 Pro‘s price point. But as we’ve already said, we think it will cost around $100 more. And that is why Microsoft regularly touts it as a premium console; after all, devices labeled “premium” generally cost more.
