Xbox Scarlett Will Prioritize Frame Rate Over Graphics, Says Phil Spencer

Xbox boss Phil Spencer and his team have really been pushing 4K gaming this generation with the Xbox One. It was a big point of marketing for the Xbox One X. However, for the next generation -- the generation of the Xbox Scarlett -- the team at Xbox is putting a bigger emphasis on frame rate and playability than visuals. Speaking with our sister site GameSpot, Spencer Microsoft is prioritizing playability of Xbox Scarlett games. Further, it's really putting a lot of emphasis into how games load, which ties into playability.

"I think the area that we really want to focus on next generation is frame rate and playability of the games," said Spencer. "Ensuring that the games load incredibly fast, ensuring that the game is running at the highest frame rate possible. We're also the Windows company, so we see the work that goes on [for] PC and the work that developers are doing. People love 60 frames-per-second games, so getting games to run at 4K 60 [FPS] I think will be a real design goal for us.

Spencer continued:

"The thing that's interesting is, this generation, we've really focused on 4K visuals and how we bring both movies through 4K Blu-ray and video streaming, and with Xbox One X allowing games to run at 4K visuals will make really strong visual enhancements next generation. "But playability is probably the bigger focus for us this generation. How fast do [games] load? Do I feel like I can get into the game as fast as possible and while it's playing? How does it feel? Does this game both look and feel like no other game that I've seen? That's our target."

Of course, 8K has been thrown around with the PS5 and Xbox Scarlett, but it seems, at least with the latter, that won't happen anytime soon. Rather, it appears Microsoft wants to make sure frame rate and how the game plays matches how it looks before it jumps to 8K. And this is for the better. The difference between 4K and 8K isn't as great as the difference between 60 FPS and 30 FPS.

Xbox Scarlett is set to release sometime next holiday season. For more news, media, and information on the console -- and all things related to it -- be sure to check out all of our previous coverage of it by clicking right here.