During their Xbox E3 2019 show, Microsoft revealed quite a lot of info on their new Xbox console. They call it Project Scarlett but don’t expect this to be the retail box name. That will most likely change.
Around 3 minutes long, Project Scarlett trailer tell us that next gen Xbox console is launching Holiday 2020 and will launch with Halo Infinite in an homage to the original Xbox. They also confirmed that It will be backward compatible with 3 generations of previous Xbox consoles games meaning OG Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. I suppose all backward compatible games already available and announced at E3 on Xbox One should also be available on Project Scarlett.
But let’s disscus the technology that will power the next generation Xbox console. Microsoft confirmed that they will utilize AMD’s Zen2 for CPU and NAVI for GPU. They will also use very fast GDDR6 memory which in tandem with super fast SSD storage solution should guarantee very fast load times and high quality graphics and high framerate.
We still don’t know the specification of the console but not many really expected this to be revealed so early in the development process. However, the fact that they will use Zen2 and NAVI leads me to believe that next gen console will be very powerful and capable. Microsoft went to even say that their new Xbox will be 8k and 120 FPS capable. This is not to say that all games will run in 8K resolution and 120 frames per second but I can see some smaller titles running in 120 FPS. 8K will most likely be possible via some form of upscaling and also in some smaller titles. I would be very happy if the next gen console delivered Native 4K and 60 FPS games.
But this is not all. Microsoft also confirmed that Project Scarlett will offer support for Ray Tracing. Hardware accelearted Ray Tracing to be exact. This is a big announcement if you ask me. This not only confirms that this machine will be powerful but also have decicated hardware cores to handle Ray Tracing. We all know that ray tracing is very demanding on a hardware so this new console will sure be no slouch.
So to sum this up, Microsoft shared quite a lot of new info on Project Scarlett at E3 but we will have to wait till next year for full details on the specs, price and exact release date.
