Microsoft plans more trade-in programs for a “smooth transition” to Xbox Scorpio

Introducing the Xbox One Slim and discussing Project Scorpio during its infancy stage has led to some heated debates amongst gamers, journalists, and investors. In the end, what’s done is done and now Microsoft’s Xbox division appears to be prepping itself for the inevitable outrage of indignity from gamers “forced to upgrade” and the sea of journalistic coverage laden with scrutiny.

A report from the Daily Star UK seems to imply that Microsoft is drafting an upgrade process that starts at the game development level to entice gamers to upgrade to the new console without having to spring clean their gaming library. Unlike the transition from Xbox 360 to the Xbox One, gamers won’t have to rely on some software workaround for backward gameplay experiences, but instead get benefit from hardware and graphical upscaling when upgrading to Project Scorpio.

Despite being seen as a potentially unnecessary mid-generation cash-grab upgrade, it would seem the Xbox division is hoping gamers will view the addition of Project Scorpio to the console lineup as a sliding scale of gaming experiences, with the Xbox One anchoring the base level experience.

For gamers who want a bit more oomph! For their bucks, they can seek out the Xbox One Slim and for the spec junkie and first adopter, Project Scorpio will soon be an option, but regardless of the console, a newly developed game will scale across each. In approaching the market with the new line up of consoles, the Xbox division believes trading and upgrading will be as easy as ever for gamers as well as retail partners with businesses that center around trade-in programs.

In an interview with Daily Star UK, Dave McCarthy, general manager at Xbox Services, said:

Some of our retail partners today do trade-in programs and that’s definitely going to be partnerships we continue to move going forward. We want to make that transition as smooth as possible. The compatibility thing is a big deal because you feeling you have to give up your games isn’t a good feeling, so we take that angst out of the equation. We’ll try partnerships with our retail partners to smooth it even more with trade-in programs and things like that.

We are making a meaningful step with Project Scorpio in supporting 4K gaming. But you don’t have to worry about that as a gamer because the games you already own on Xbox One, the ones you’re going to buy this year and in the future will work across the family of devices (Xbox One, Xbox One S and Scorpio). We haven’t always been able to do that at these generational bumps. That’s a big shift for us.”

Microsoft and Sony’s mid-generation console upgrade approach is still a big question mark in the gaming industry, as to how well the two companies can navigate the rough waters of gamer expectation and gaming studio output remains to be seen. However, we’re getting our first signs of what, at least, the Xbox team has planned.