Project Scorpio: 5 Ways PS4 Pro May Still Beat Xbox Despite Specs - Price, Games & VR

Project Scorpio is clearly the console to beat in terms of its specs, but the 2017 Xbox still has an uphill battle to dethrone PS4 Pro. Between price, games and VR, here are five ways Sony’s console may stay on top.

1) Price: While we don’t officially know what Xbox Scorpio’s price will be, all analysts agree it won’t come cheap. The PS4 Pro currently retails for $399, and, based on what we know about Scorpio, there’s almost no way that system can sell at that price without incurring a loss bigger than any console ever has.

Realistically speaking, it’s not unthinkable to assume Project Scorpio will cost at least $100 more than PS4 Pro. That differential could become even wider when factoring in Black Friday and holiday savings. A year-old product like the Pro is more likely to see price cuts, while the brand new Scorpio will hover closer to MSRP. Lower pricing compared to Xbox One was a defining factor in PS4’s early success. That same trend could repeat with Scorpio.

2) Exclusive Games: We’re still in the early months of 2017, but, so far, it’s been a year of absolutely stellar Sony exclusives. Over the past few months the PlayStation faithful have been privy to Horizon: Zero Dawn, Persona 5, Nier: Automata and Nioh. The lowest Metacritic score in that quartet is an 88.

Microsoft has its own stable of exclusives including Halo and Gears Of War, but, considering major entries to both series released fairly recently, they won’t be part of Scorpio’s immediate plans. As far as we know, the system’s launch rides heavily on Sea Of Thieves, State Of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3. The latter in that trio will probably be awesome enough to move the needle in some respect, but it’s still very hard to ignore the parameters of the Xbox Play Anywhere initiative. All those games we just mentioned will also be available on high-end and mid-tier PC hardware. Why buy a Scorpio then?

3) Market-Leading Partnerships: PS4 is the clear market leader in the current console race by a margin of about two-to-one. That large advantage can mean big things from a business perspective. When third-party developers make games, they prefer to launch them on systems with large install bases. After all, larger markets potentially offer bigger bottom lines.

In that regard, developing games with the PS4 ecosystem in mind is ultimately more tantalizing than creating content for Xbox One or Scorpio. That’s why some of those titles listed above opted for PlayStation exclusivity. It also means more demand for partnerships based on marketing and DLC too. Sony’s snowball is rolling fast, and it’s going to be very hard for Scorpio to slow down that established momentum.

4) A Cohesive VR Strategy: PlayStation VR is in no way exclusive to PS4 Pro, but it’s no secret that both premium Sony products are closely linked together. While it’s honestly hard to tell how well PSVR is doing from a wider sales perspective, the product made waves in the niche VR landscape very quickly. In some respects, it’s already become a market leader.

Xbox Scorpio’s ties to VR are tenuous at best. For now Microsoft refuses to talk about those elements, but the company maintains that 2017’s console is “VR-ready.” The general assumption is that Microsoft will possibly partner with Oculus Rift or HTC Vive in the future. There might even be room for Microsoft HoloLens support down the line.

All three of those products could offer competitive experiences on Scorpio, but they’re much more expensive and more confusing to consumers from a marketing perspective. Sony’s first-party VR headset working with Sony’s first-party games console is an easy concept to understand, and it adds a comparatively cheap boost to an ecosystem that’s already gained market momentum. Scorpio will either be late to the party or it will rely on pricey PC products that aren’t really penetrating a broader audience.

5) Sony Has A More Defined Future Plan: One of the most intriguing prospects of Project Scorpio is how this console intends to “blur the line between console generations.” That sounds cool, but what does it actually mean? Right now Microsoft is talking about Scorpio as a new version of the Xbox One, but is this product something more? Its beefy specs say yes. Will it live on past the Xbox One S? Microsoft doesn’t want to look that far into the future right now.

With PS4 Pro, it’s a bit easier to understand what you’re getting. Because its spec upgrades are more modest, there’s an expectation that the Pro is very much a half-step upgrade between a hypothetical PS5. Microsoft, in contrast, is stuck between a rock and a hard place. By marketing Scorpio as a half-step, the company loses potential hype and sales from the dawn of a new console generation. However, if hardware designers went full bore with Scorpio, which might also anger the significant number of consumers that supported Xbox One. At some point Microsoft must decide where the Scorpio falls on that continuum. All the while, Sony knows what it’s doing and gamers do too.

We’ll likely hear more about Xbox Scorpio during Microsoft’s E3 press conference. It’s set to take place June 11 at 5 p.m. EDT.

Do you think Project Scorpio will “lose” to PS4 Pro? Does it even matter? Tell us in the comments section! If you liked this article, feel free to read our five tips to make Project Scorpio a success.