Xbox Exec Responds to Scorpio Concerns
Developers have "responded well to it as we've shared the plans with them."
One concern some have raised about Microsoft's Project Scorpio and Sony's PlayStation Neo is the potential burden of supporting two consoles, each with different specs, at the same time.
Now, Xbox Head of Operations Dave McCarthy has responded. He told GameSpot that Scorpio can offer a "seamless" experience for developers.
"Obviously, listening to their feedback on Xbox One influenced our approach on Xbox One S and has influenced our approach to Project Scorpio overall," he said. "So we really do intend it to be a seamless experience going across that ecosystem of devices, including Windows 10 as much as possible. We're learning and improving in that space on a regular basis."
Games you own on Xbox One will play on Project Scorpio, and in some cases, PC as well (thanks to Play Anywhere). McCarthy said Microsoft's broader goal is to allow developers to reach "the whole canvas of gamers."
Previously, McCarthy said he thinks Scorpio will "wipe out" traditional console generational boundaries.
"That term of an upgrade is gone. As a gamer, it's pretty cool," he said. "Because then I know the games I buy and play today and the controllers I use today are going to work on that machine of tomorrow. And that's the real major step-change."
Also in our interview, McCarthy said developers may tailor their games to specific devices, suggesting there may indeed be Scorpio-only games, as had been suggested earlier.
"[Developers] will always want to write to specific capabilities and devices," he explained. "Giving our developers some choice in what they choose to leverage as they do that is key to our whole philosophy moving forward. They've responded well to it as we've shared the plans with them."
Some of the developers who sung the praises of Scorpio in its announcement video included Fallout 4 and Skyrim director Todd Howard, as well as EA Studios boss Patrick Soderlund. Microsoft didn't tell everyone about Scorpio before its announcement, however, as Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata said he didn't find out about it until Microsoft's briefing.
On the other side of the fence, PlayStation president Andrew House also broached the subject of the potential burden new consoles may place on developers. He claimed it will only require a "small but manageable" amount of work to get a game working on both the old and new PlayStation 4 consoles.
Neither Sony nor Microsoft have yet to provided any specifics about what exactly will be required on the part of developers. Developers that ship games on PC are already familiar with releasing games for systems whose power varies depending on hardware configurations.
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