A Console With Upgradeable Components Is "A Stretch," Xbox Boss Says

Before Project Scorpio was officially announced, one of the ideas floating around was that you could upgrade it like a PC, incrementally increasing its power with new components. Xbox boss Phil Spencer quickly came forward to say you won't be using a screwdriver to open the console and change its components. Now, with Project Scorpio due out later this year, Spencer has doubled down on that.

Asked on Twitter about upgradeable components for consoles, Spencer said this is "a stretch."

"The idea that users will open up a console and change compute components inside seems like a stretch to me," he said.

Project Scorpio, with its 6 teraflops of performance, 8 CPU cores, and 320GB/s memory bandwidth, is the most powerful console ever made, according to Microsoft.

Back in March 2016, before Project Scorpio was announced, Spencer said there is "something special" about buying a console and knowing that it works without extra effort.

"Am I going to break open my console and start upgrading individual pieces of my console? That's not our plan," he said. "There is something special about what happens with a console. You buy an appliance-like device; you plug it into your TV; it works when you plug it in. It's not like I'm going to ship a screwdriver set with every console that comes out."

Project Scorpio, or whatever Microsoft decides to call the console, will launch this holiday. There are still lots of unanswered questions about it, including its price. We only know it will be more expensive than the Xbox One, which starts at $300. The console plays all Xbox One games and works with the controllers and other peripherals you may already own.

The console is surely going to play a part in Microsoft's E3 2017 briefing in June, but Spencer has teased that Microsoft may announce more details about the console ahead of that.

Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.