Phil Spencer: Partnership with Sony Aims to Grow the Gaming Industry; Talks Project Scarlett

The latest issue of Weekly Famitsu included an interview with Microsoft’s Xbox division head Phil Spencer, who talked about the upcoming console codenamed Project Scarlett and more.

Spencer mentioned that the focus of the console is to increase the visual fidelity of the games, but that’s not all. An equally important focus is on the gameplay feel. While games on current home consoles already look great, depending on frame rate and latency issues, at times there the feeling when playing doesn’t fully match what you see on the screen.

Due to that, Project Scarlett isn’t focusing only on the visuals, but also on the feeling while playing. This requires focusing on CPU power, storage, and memory bandwidth on top of pure GPU power.

After confirming that the console will include a disc driver, Spencer mentioned that Microsoft has always targeted 2020 as a release window for Scarlett. Since Xbox One X is on the market and it’s already capable of 4K, the company decided that there was no need to introduce a new home console as soon as possible. On top of that, Spencer also wanted to make sure that Microsoft could properly deliver the power required by the project.

Asked about the origin of the code name “Project Scarlett” Spencer said he prefers to keep it a secret for a while longer. That being said, he mentioned that it was named by a well-known member of the Hardware team. He wants to explain it, but when he does, he needs to tell the whole story.

Spencer also talked about the partnership with Sony, mentioning that it’s across diverse fields, one of which is cloud gaming using Azure. The focal point for both companies is the continuous growth of the gaming industry, leveraging the capabilities of both Sony and Microsoft.

He also added that he’s very happy to have this opportunity, even if the relationship is still in its early stages. Sony and Microsoft have worked together in various ways for twenty years, so Spencer explains that working with Sony as a platform holder isn’t as strange as people outside the company may think. For example, Minecraft has been on PlayStation platforms for several years and it’s a big success.

Spencer concluded with mentioning that fans can look forward to more information as it gets gradually released in the future.

[Source: Weekly Famitsu]