Microsoft thinks that the future of gaming is not just PC and not just console or mobile, but all of the above. Furthermore, the company firmly believes that Xbox, its popular gaming console, is all about choice. That's why Microsoft is investing in technology "all throughout the game stack."

That's everything Microsoft promises to bring to the table with its new-generation Xbox console, for now dubbed Project Scarlett. Mind you, the tech giant says it doesn't want to build just another console, but it wants the new one to be "transformative."

Xbox Project Scarlett - What Are Microsoft's Plans?

What does that mean? More immersion, more exploration, and more detail. Or in other words, it's a lot easier for people to enter the game and stay in the game thanks to short load times, which is like the holy grail for gamers and programmers alike. Keep in mind though that this corporate PR talk is, to some extent, quite blurry and unquantifiable, but it's all we've got for the time being. Now, let's delve into more palpable stuff.

Microsoft Xbox Project Scarlett - The Technical Specs

So, what will be under the hood of the new Microsoft gaming console? For starters, it will feature a processor fitted with Zen 2 and Navi technology provided by Microsoft's partner on this project, AMD. Microsoft says this processor will be four times more powerful than the Xbox One X, which already has six teraflops of processing power, which is significantly more than the PlayStation 4 Pro (4.1 teraflops) and the Xbox One S (1.4 teraflops). By the way, FLOPS comes from "FLoating point Operations Per Second" and is used to measure rendering power. So, if Microsoft gets it right, we're looking at 24 teraflops worth of processing power. That's huge. But it's not all.

Xbox One X Specs

Project Scarlett will use high-bandwidth GDDR 6 memory, therefore, opening the door for frame rates up to 120 frames per second, 8K capability, and variable refresh rate. Then there's the SSD. According to Microsoft, that will be a new generation of SSD used as virtual RAM, with the company saying it has been seeing "40 times performance increases over the current generation." How will the gamer experience these changes? For starters, more details. Plus, low to zero loading times and the ability to move from one world to another without waiting for screens to load. Another novelty is the real-time ray-tracing capability, which will boost graphics even further.

Project Scarlett Will Open The Creativity Door For Game Developers

Microsoft says that game developers will be given the opportunity to create THE game they've always wanted to, and some of them are already working on those games at the time of writing if we are to take Microsoft's word for it. In fact, Project Scarlett will arrive during holiday 2020, together with Halo Infinite. Moreover, gamers will be able to connect across devices and across platforms.

Moreover, according to Digital Trends, Microsoft has confirmed that Xbox Scarlett will allow backward compatibility - that is compatibility with all three previous Xboxes but "not necessarily all of the games released for that system."

Last but not least, Project Scarlett will also usher in what Microsoft calls xCloud. This feature will allow gamers to play the Xbox game on devices such as smartphones or tablets (which are naturally less powered than a full-blown console) but also use Bluetooth Xbox controllers while doing that.

Xbox One X Versus PlayStation 4 Pro

Xbox One X Versus PS4 Pro