Microsoft today announced ‘Project Scorpio’ a new Xbox console launching in 2017 which promises to bring “high fidelity VR” and 4K gaming to the console world.

At Microsoft’s Xbox E3 press conference today, the company finally made official the rumored ‘Project Scorpio’, a new Xbox console set to launch holiday 2017.

xbox-project-scorpio-logo

Details are incredibly thin at present. Microsoft says that Xbox Project Scorpio will support “high fidelity VR,” but didn’t announce what headsets the system would support or any other details. The obvious choice for VR support on the new Xbox console would be the Oculus Rift given Microsoft’s close relationship with the company, but the Rift was not specifically mentioned during the announcement.

“When it ships next year, Project Scorpio will be our most powerful console ever built, specifically to lead the industry into a future in which true 4K gaming and high-fidelity VR are the standard, not an exception,” the company says.

Microsoft says that Xbox One games will be forward compatible with Project Scorpio.

Xbox Project Scorpio Specs

xbox-project-scorpio-specs-vr

Microsoft gave a brief overview of the Xbox Project Scorpio specs, claiming that the system will include the most powerful GPU in any game console to date.

  • System will support 4K gaming at 60Hz
  • 8 CPU cores
  • 320 GB/s of memory bandwidth
  • 6 TFLOP/s of GPU power
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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • bschuler

    I think they are holding their cards close to their chests as Oculus has taken quite the tumble. What with the newer cheaper opensource headset announced just today, all the people and developers mad at them or suing them, and all the bad press.. I bet Microsoft is open to jumping from Oculus to someone else.

    • Jim Cherry

      ;} yeah osvr works just like a rift cv1 for 400 usd. Wait when did it ship.

    • Steam Iron

      What do you mean by Oculus having taken quite the tumble? it has sold 3.6 million units vs the next best HTC at 2.1 milion units. Oculus VR has sold 5.0 million but these are not much more than show pieces. Why do you think Microsoft would move? I think people underestimate the software investment that Oculus have put in. I think we will see other promises of superior technology from several quarters but it will come down to who can most effectively engage with developers to take up the platform and turn it into popular titles. Microsoft would be covering their backs well to use a product like oculus on both xbox and PC. I think they are predicting a console/pc convergence and will move to kill two birds with one stone, this is alluded to by their promise of the abilty to buy on xbox and play on both. Will be interesting if this goes both ways, buying a cheap steam game and playing on xbox, we will see! interesting times ahead.

      • Alex Holmes

        where are you getting these figures?, just interested

        • ReddChief78

          From his behind, PC VR sold in the millions LMAO!! there’s people who pre ordered those thing day 1 that still haven’t got one even kickstarter people but either way PC VR selling in the millions i doubt it lol.

      • Alx

        Yeh, these figures are fabulous. Woohoo!

    • greeneblitz

      I think you spend too much time reading reddit, all of your conclusions are either wrong or false.

    • WillyWonka248

      Everyone should jump from Oculus to something else. A walled garden, closed source, DRM approach to producing games, is one of the dumbest moves Oculus could have made. They are trying to fail.

    • Gianne Willett

      Which cheaper opensource headset?

  • Deeke

    Holiday 2017? I just heard “2017” :o

  • Jim Cherry

    Small correction MS didn’t actually say it would support vr they had a video with a bunch of developers some of which work for ms studios. In that video a Bethesda dev says “we’re bringing fallout 4 to vr” we can then infer that fallout 4 at some point will work in vr on project scorpio.

    • Dynastius

      Yes they did. Phil Spector said it would support high fidelity VR. I just watched the presentation on YouTube

      • ReddChief78

        Yup it will support VR

  • sntxrrr

    Holiday 2017 could coincide nicely with a Rift v2. Oculus always said to aim for a release cycle slower than mobile but faster than console.

  • Alx

    Holidays 2017. Isn’t that a year and a half away? “Holidays” means the Festive Period/December right?? Sorry in advance.

  • Rob Walker

    I’m sceptical of 4k gaming on a near future xbox if we can’t even get all games released at the moment in 1080P.