Microsoft's decision to announce the Scorpio project at E3 2016 a year and a half before its actual release (set for Holiday 2017) was hotly debated by industry figures and consumers alike.

　　In case you thought that was completely useless, Microsoft Studios' General Manager Shannon Loftis explained to The Guardian that's not really the case as developers are already future proofing Xbox One games to be ready when Scorpio hits.

　　Many of our developers are already doing it - they’re already working to bring 4K gaming to the PC environment. We can use the work they’ve done and bring that to console. We can make sure that, through the Windows 10 development environment, they can put one or two features into a game to future proof it against Scoprio. Taking advantage of dynamic scaling and things like that, a game they make for Xbox One today will run beautifully on S and run beautifully and look better on Scorpio.

　　Later in the same interview, Head of Xbox Division Phil Spencer also took a slight stab at Sony when he stated that Microsoft is not getting distracted away from the core console gaming experience by the advent of Virtual Reality.

　　I will say, we’re very focused on console games and what console gamers want, and I see VR as something different. Like, other people might try to say, ‘VR is the future of console gaming.’ I’m not saying that. I’m saying if you’re an Xbox One console gamer, we are so focused on making your experience the best experience you’ve ever had with the best lineup of games. We’re not getting distracted.

　　About a month ago, Spencer said that Microsoft isn't currently interested in manufacturing a first party VR device and that consequently they will enable multiple hardware manufacturers to release VR devices for the Xbox One. It will be interesting to see if both Oculus Rift and HTC Vive will jump at the opportunity by the time Scorpio is released.