Microsoft today said that it would formally unveilits upcoming Xbox console, codenamed “Project Scorpio”, at the E3 trade show in June.

“We look forward to sharing even more about Project Scorpio this year at E3,” a Microsoft representative told me this morning.

Does this suggest that Microsoft won’t reveal more Scorpio information at its May Windows 10/hardware event, as some have speculated? Yes, it does. Regardless, I feel that any appearance by Scorpio would undermine this event’s alleged educational focus, and whatever hardware Microsoft does announce.

There’s a second issue with the E3 note, of course: For some reason, many video game fans feel that this show should be all about games, and that somehow discussing hardware at E3 is against some unspoken code. That’s a ridiculous opinion. E3—or the Electronic Entertainment Expo, as it’s really known—is a video game industry event, and hardware and the companies that make that hardware, are a primary attraction. E3 is, in other words, the obvious place for Microsoft to reveal more details about Scorpio.

Which is why they addressed this silly issue today.

“We know you care most about great games, whether they be exclusive, multiplatform, independent or AAA,” Microsoft Head of Xbox Phil Spencer writes in a new post to the Xbox Wire blog. “We are proud of the diverse lineup of games coming this year that will only be playable on Xbox One and will play better on Project Scorpio. We designed Project Scorpio to be the best console to play the blockbuster multiplatform games from our publishing partners, made it easy for recently released titles to upgrade to true 4K and for beloved, backward compatible titles to play better than ever before … We’re excited to unveil Project Scorpio and the amazing game experiences it powers at E3 this June.”

In other words, relax. They’re going to talk about games a lot at E3. As always.

Microsoft will host its E3 briefing on Sunday, June 11 from 2-3:30 p.m. PT, which is a new day and time for the annual event. I’m looking into attending this one.

Tagged with Scorpio