Microsoft
Of all the major industry players, Microsoft has the biggest mountain to climb at this year’s E3. Despite far from mediocre overall sales, there’s no question that the Xbox One’s momentum has dropped off dramatically in recent months. That is, of course, largely due to the company keeping its gaming releases in reserve while preparing for the upcoming release of project Scorpio. But that has meant the past few months have painfully dry for Xbox One owners, made all the worse by the exceptional start to the year from Sony and Nintendo.
Microsoft, then, has a lot of ground to make up to get itself back in contention, and it all rests rather heavily on Scorpio’s shoulders. It is being billed as Microsoft’s big second bite of the apple, and, indeed, the significant investment packing expensive components into a (hopefully) affordable package suggests it represents a big gamble for the company. An unavoidable result of those mouth-watering specifications, however, is an expectation that it is going to deliver PC rivaling performance, and anything less is going to be met with disappointment. In comparison to its rival console, PS4 Pro, which released to an overall lukewarm reaction but was at least praised for its checkerboard, faux 4K ingenuity, Scorpio’s inability to deliver 4K 60fps gaming may largely be deemed a failure.
But if the console’s ability to produce a noticeable graphical upgrade is important, the assurance of soon-to-arrive exclusive games is absolutely vital. This is especially pertinent given that unwanted but increasingly popular narrative that Microsoft has a tendency to cancel games and close down first party studios. E3 is absolutely Microsoft’s big moment to stamp out that rhetoric and pledge upcoming games both this year and beyond.
Despite the vast improvements to the Xbox One brand under Phil Spencer, Microsoft certainly stands as the company with the most to lose following a poor showing at E3. The world will be watching this monumentally important moment in the company’s history as it makes its case for Scorpio as the home of console gaming. Critically, unlike the original Xbox One’s stuttering E3 reveal, Microsoft’s message with Scorpio must be loud and clear.
