Xbox Chief Talks Project Scorpio and Reiterates There Won't be Exclusive Games

Xbox platform chief Mike Ybarra has shared some new insight into Microsoft's plans for the Project Scorpio console coming out next year. In an interview with Windows Central, Ybarra made it clear that the console will be "100 percent" compatible with your existing Xbox One games.

He reiterated that there will not be Scorpio-exclusive games, except in the case of titles that may use virtual reality peripherals. "Scorpio will be 100% compatible with all Xbox One titles and there will be no Scorpio exclusive games, pending any potential unique accessories such as VR," he said.

There have been concerns that developers might not be all that jazzed about Scorpio, and PS4 Pro for that matter, since simultaneously supporting consoles with different specs could be a pain. However, Ybarra said he doesn't expect this to be a significant issue, saying some developers are already familiar with launching games for systems that have different specs.

"Experienced developers who make PC games or ship their titles on multiple platforms are very familiar with the development process of targeting multiple performance configurations," he said. "We see this today, with developers authoring content at 4K resolution or higher to take advantage of high performance PCs, and then scale the content accordingly for systems with different spec ranges.

"This enables them to easily target multiple performance profiles without significantly increasing their content production costs. We expect developers to do similar with Xbox One vs. Scorpio titles," he added. "Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for developers to target multiple devices including Xbox One S, Project Scorpio, and the full breadth of Windows 10 devices."

Read the full Windows Central interview here.

Scorpio, which Microsoft refers to as the "most powerful console ever made," is scheduled to come out in holiday 2017. According to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, the console's software library is shaping up well.

Pricing for the console has not been announced, but Microsoft previously referred to it as a "premium product," so it likely won't be cheap. Sony's PS4 Pro, which goes on sale in November, costs $400.

Microsoft's Albert Penello recently spoke out to say the PS4 Pro is not powerful enough to support true 4K. The performance gap between the Scorpio and PS4 Pro will be "obvious," he added.