Microsoft confirms Xbox Series X is ready to deliver 8K games. Your move, PS5

(Image credit: Microsoft)

published 7 January 2020

Now Xbox Series X has been officially announced, we're starting to wonder what the new machine will be capable of when it launches later this year. What kind of processing power will the console have? How will it stack up against its main rival, the PS5?

One particular tidbit of information has been dropped via Microsoft's Head of Xbox, which gives us a very good idea as to what the next generation of games will look like onscreen.

8K TV is here: what you need to know

Phil Spencer, VP of gaming at Microsoft, has changed his Twitter account's profile pic to an image of the Xbox Series X's central processing unit, or CPU. While a picture of an internal part isn't usually noteworthy in itself, this image is clearly a thinly-veiled boast regarding the new console's capabilities.

Embossed on the CPU, as well as the Xbox's codename "Project Scarlett" is the legend "8K". This is very clearly a reference to the new Xbox's ability to support games in stunning 8K resolution.

What is 8K?

With 8K still very much in its infancy, that's the number-letter combo you'll be looking for when purchasing the next generation of TVs. An 8K resolution TV will pack 7680 x 4320 pixels on the screen, four times as crisp a picture as standard 1080p hi-res.

Gaming in 8K is set to provide more immersive environments and more detailed character renders than ever before. You'll need both an 8K TV and an Xbox Series X console (or possibly a PS5, but there's been no confirmation on that yet) to take advantage of the turbo-HD resolution revolution.

In the meantime, you'll just have to watch the trailer for the Series X's first exclusive, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, and imagine these scenes in flawless 8K. Prepare to be able to pick out every hair on Solid Snake's head, every stitch on Ryu's gi and every gory, horrible detail on Resident Evil's zombies.

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Matt Evans now works for T3.com sister brand TechRadar, covering all things relating to fitness and wellness. He came to T3.com as staff writer before moving on, and was previously on Men's Health, and slightly counterintuitively, a website devoted to the consumption of Scotch whiskey. In his free time, he could often be found with his nose in a book until he discovered the Kindle.