Microsoft is designing an upgraded Xbox One console that is expected to be more powerful than both the PlayStation 4 and its all-but-confirmed successor, the PS4 Neo, according to a purported anonymous insider speaking to Polygon.

Specifically, the next Xbox (believed to be codenamed “Scorpio” but referred to internally as the Xbox One-Two) is targeted to run at 6 teraflops. If true, that represents more than a four-fold computational upgrade over the standard Xbox One. It would also mean the system is more than three times faster than the current PS4.

According to previous reports, the unannounced new PS4 (sometimes referred to as the PS4.5, or PS4K) will run just above 4.1 teraflops.

Should the growing number of Xbox Scorpio insider articles, many of which verify each other, turn out to be accurate, it would mean Microsoft could be on the cusp of overcoming a three-year hardware handicap against Sony’s trailblazing PS4. Sony has announced it has sold 40 million units of its system in about two and a half years.

However, computational performance only provides a narrow measure of a games console’s power, with memory bandwidth and speed, and even hard-drive read speeds, all being potential bottlenecks that determine a system’s overall “power.”

Microsoft has yet to respond to requests for comment.

It is expected that the Xbox One Scorpio will ship by the end of 2017. Whether it will be announced at E3 2016 will be a key question, and is apparently still under deliberation. Microsoft’s decision with regards to this is complicated further because it is also reportedly set to announce another, streamlined Xbox One system, said to be the smallest Xbox ever produced.

Rumours regarding Sony’s PS4 Neo, which first surfaced in March during the Game Developers Conference, are believed to have acted as a catalyst to accelerate Microsoft’s work on an upgraded system.

Universal Compatibility

Further within the Polygon report, the publication claims that “universal compatibility” will be a core principle for the Xbox One range, meaning that the new system will support all previously released Xbox One games.

A crucial, unanswered question is whether the original Xbox Ones will support games designed with Scorpio in mind.

Another major issue, one which also applies to Sony and its PS4K model, is how the games development community adapts to the additional task of developing for both old and new platforms.

Meanwhile, both the Xbox One Slim and the Xbox One-Two will arrive amid a wider plan at Microsoft to unite its console and PC division.

As reported previously reported, Microsoft is looking into a more standardised convergence between Windows 10’s gaming platform and the Xbox One, where key games will ship for both platforms simultaneously going forwards.

E3 Plans

Microsoft has announced its E3 conference will take place at 9:30 AM Pacific on Monday, June 13.

In March, Xbox boss Phil Spencer discussed the possibility of console hardware one day becoming upgradable, saying Microsoft is building towards a future where its games consoles will be upgradable.

Phil Spencer has previously talked down suggestions that Microsoft is working on a console upgrade, though the rumour originated from his own comments at a press conference.

“People have asked me before, are we going to do another console, and I say I fully expect that we will,” he said. “And people say well, why do you say fully expect? Why don’t you just say yes? I’m in a job right now–I make decisions based on what’s today; I can’t always predict the future. But if you think about the strategy we’re on, the strategy is a long-term vision that includes multiple hardware generations on both console, and frankly PC.

“I’ve said the ‘end of a generation’ and this step-function that happens is not something I embrace. I think it’s something we can do better at. I see it in music, I see it in books, I see it in movies. When I buy digital content, that digital content stays with me and I’m able to use it when I got out and get new devices.”