Ori Dev Calls Xbox S Project Scorpio Full Blown Next Gen Machine

Adding to all that, one developer has called Project Scorpio a “full blown next-gen machine.” The comment came from Thomas Mahler, the CEO of Moon Studios, the makers of the Xbox One and PC-exclusive game Ori and the Blind Forest. Mahler made the statement responding to a question from someone in a NeoGAF forum thread.

In the same breath speaking about the powerful nature of Project Scorpio, Mahler went on to give his opinion about Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro console, calling it a “half-assed upgrade.” He tries to explain that, in his eyes, Project Scorpio is a next-gen console that also just so happens to play Xbox One and Xbox 360 games. Here’s his full post:

GameSpot confirmed that the NeoGAF post was in fact from Mahler, and considering that his company’s Ori and the Blind Forest is one of the most celebrated indie games of the Xbox One, he has likely seen and/or used Microsoft’s upgraded console, so his comments (at least about what Scorpio can do) can be taken with some accuracy. Then again, Ori is a Microsoft published title, so Moon Studios likely has a better relationship with the Xbox One manufacturer than Sony. In other words, take his positive words about Scorpio and negative words about the PS4 Pro in context.

According to the data pulled from Scorpio’s whitepaper yesterday, it does appear that it will be the most powerful console on the market when it launches. With the soon-to-be-released Nintendo Switch not attempting to push the limits on its technical specs, it looks that Scorpio will have much more power under its hood than even the PlayStation 4 Pro.

On the flip side of that coin, Microsoft has continued to communicate that Scorpio will not be a next-gen machine in the traditional sense, but will be an upgraded Xbox One. Head of Xbox Phil Spencer recently said that the console is making “amazing progress”, so it looks to be heading firmly toward a release late in 2017. Spencer also said that Project Scorpio will sell at a price point fitting of a console and won’t be comparable to higher end PC gaming rigs.