Xbox Project Scorpio release date news: High-end price range expected for upcoming 4K-supporting console

Microsoft displays its Xbox One S console at the Xbox E3 2016 media briefing in Los Angeles, California on June 13, 2016.Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

Microsoft has yet to reveal more official details about the upcoming Xbox One Project Scorpio, but new pricing rumors claim that the upcoming gaming console system will have a steep price.

New reports claim that the upcoming Project Scorpio console is being developed as a certified 4K gaming system, since it is capable of streaming and recording various gameplays at 2160 pixel resolution with 60 frames per second (fps) capacity.

This will be an upgrade from the recently released Xbox One S console that is only capable of streaming and recording videos at 720 pixel resolution with 30 fps.

However, since most 4K capture cards are known to be on the costly side, HD-Report speculated that Microsoft will offer the upcoming gaming console under a premium price range. According to the report, the Xbox One Project Scorpio might be released for $400 to $500.

An expensive price tag for the Project Scorpio gaming system should not come as a surprise, since Xbox head Phil Spencer earlier revealed to NZGamer back in September 2016 that the product is meant to be released as a premium gaming console.

"So I think you will feel like it's a premium product, a premium console. And not something, anything more than that," Spencer stated, adding, "When I think about it as a product line, you should expect the pricing to kind of be in line with that."

Meanwhile, Spencer also answered a fan inquiry about the company's plans for the first-party video game title. According to the Xbox head, coming up with first-party games will be very important for the launch of Project Scorpio.

However, he did not specify if Microsoft already has plans to release new game titles that will first arrive on an Xbox console or if he was talking about some existing titles that might have been updated and reworked from the Xbox One or Xbox One S.

Microsoft is expected to release the new Xbox One Project Scorpio before the year ends.