Xbox news recap: Scorpio specs unveiled, Xbox Design Lab stuck in North America and more

Welcome to our weekly Xbox news recap series, where we go over the top stories of the past week in the world of Xbox. Let’s get started.

Scorpio specs unveiled

We’ve been waiting for a long time, and it’s finally here: some specifications about Project Scorpio. Just as we expected, the console is going to be an exceptionally powerful piece of hardware, sporting eight custom x86 cores clocked at 2.3GHz, 40 customized compute units at 1172MHz, 12GB of GDDR5 RAM with 326GB/s of memory bandwidth, a 1TB 2.5-inch hard drive, and a 4K UHD Blu-ray player. The info came as part of the Eurogamer info drop this week, and it’s a huge step towards fully understanding the new console.

Xbox Design Lab stuck in North America, for now

Microsoft’s Aaron Greenburg responded to a fan on Twitter recently regarding the status of the Xbox Design Lab, which lets users create their own custom Xbox controllers. The service has been a great way for Xbox users in North America to customize their experiences, but – according to Greenburg – it’s going to stay in North America for now. Greenburg also notes that the team is listening to requests to have it placed in other markets, so you’re going to need to keep asking if you want to get some fancy colored controllers.

Scorpio designed with developers in mind, says Mike Ybarra

We’ve gotten a lot of different explanations for why Project Scorpio came into being, but here’s a new one: It’s apparently a way for Microsoft to “win developers back.” It’s no secret that Sony has been monopolizing the favor of most directors since the launch of Xbox One, so it’s nice to see Microsoft getting back to their roots. Since being the favored platform for developers throughout the lifespan of the Xbox 360, Microsoft has lost their way in quite a few arenas – we’ll see if Scorpio is the start of a new era.

Install Xbox One UWP apps through the Windows Store

In a recent Insider build, Windows 10 users got the option to install UWP apps to their Xbox One from their PC. Just going to the Windows Store and selecting an Xbox One compatible app should give you the option to queue it up for download. While these apps are pretty small and wouldn’t take you long to download through your console, it’s nice to have this capability for people who want to do everything from the Windows Store.

Scorpio may push Xbox One ahead of PS4 in sales next year

If you’re one of those people who likes to follow the console race, then Mat Piscatella from the NPD group has some good projections for you. Speaking about how he “remains bullish” on Scorpio’s sales, he mentioned that he things Scorpio may push the Xbox brand ahead of PS4 in sales. While Xbox has been doig just fine, it would be nice to see some more genuine competition rise up between Playstation and Xbox One. Historically speaking, when both consoles are doing equally well, they’re both pushed to do better – which means everybody gets better content.

Thanks for joining us. To keep up to date with all the latest Xbox news, keep a close eye on our Xbox One news hub.