Sony's current home video gaming console, the PlayStation 4, may be leading in terms of worldwide sales, but Microsoft's Xbox One is certainly no slouch either. In fact, Xbox hardware outsold Sony's for a brief period in 2016 after the release of the slimmer, HDR capable model, the Xbox One S. And with Microsoft touting their upcoming gaming system codenamed Project Scorpio – a piece of hardware that Microsoft is calling "the most powerful console ever" – the company hopes to take a commanding lead later in 2017.

Project Scorpio was first announced at Microsoft's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) press conference last summer, but the tech giant has stayed relatively quiet since. There has been some debate here and there about the console's prospective price, but other than that, Xbox executives have kept their cards held close to the chest. With talk of teraflops and pixels, it might be hard to get a grasp on how powerful this console is. In fact, even developers that work closely with Microsoft are surprised to find just how impressive this hardware actually is.

Frank O'Connor, the head of 343 Industries, recently stated (via NeoGAF) that the Scorpio is even "beefier" than he expected. For those who do not know, 343 Industries is the developer behind Halo 4, Halo 5, and this year's highly anticipated Halo Wars 2, among others.

As previously mentioned, Microsoft is not shy about the capabilities of their upcoming product, so hearing that it is powerful is indeed no surprise. That being said, if developers such as 343 Industries are claiming the dev model to be even "beefier" than expected, that is truly impressive. Arguably, no franchise is more important to Microsoft than Halo, and no developer works more closely with Xbox than 343 Industries.

The prospects of a home console this powerful are certainly exciting, but still, there is so much information that Microsoft has declined to share as of yet. One common belief is that Microsoft will wait to unveil their spec-heavy masterpiece until this year's E3, which is slated to take place in mid-June. However, there is nothing stopping Xbox from conducting their own press conference either – not unlike the upcoming Nintendo Switch press conference or the reveal show that Sony held for their heavy hitter, the PlayStation 4 Pro.

Again, there are still many unanswered questions concerning Project Scorpio, but until Microsoft unveils their high-tech home console, fans will likely be anxious to get their hands on any Xbox information that presents itself.

The Xbox Scorpio is slated to release in the holiday season of 2017.

Source: NeoGaf (via MS Power User)