Crackdown 3 is one of the many Xbox One games fans have been waiting for ever since it was announced at E3 2014. The game is expected to be the among the first titles to take advantage of the cloud, but not in terms of rendering.
Microsoft showed off a demo where we get to see cloud-based destruction physics in action. Apparently, the physics shown is not capable using just the Xbox One hardware alone, and as such, the multiplayer will rely heavily on the cloud. This feature is not expected to be part of the single-player game, however.
Crackdown 3 was projected to hit retail stores in 2016, but was delayed to 2017 earlier this year. Since them, we haven't heard much about the game, well, not until now.
Could Release Before Holiday 2017
Because of the magnitude of Crackdown 3, one would have expected the title to be released during the holiday season of 2017. However, Executive Producer Peter Connelly, Design Director Clint Burdock and Art Director Dave Johnson stated in a recent TwitchTV stream that the game would come before holiday 2017, but they did not give a hard date.
What's also interesting is that the game will run at native 4K on Project Scorpio, Microsoft's next gaming console set for release during the holidays of 2017.
Now, considering the different launch dates of both products, it's clear that Crackdown 3 will likely hit store shelves before Project Scorpio.
Project Scorpio Launching Earlier Than Expected
Crackdown 3 is one of Microsoft's most known and popular games. It would make sense for the company to release alongside Project Scorpio to show off what the console can do. No doubt the game could be an impressive launch title, so why not?
Well, there's always a chance for Microsoft to release its new video game console earlier than planned. We could see Project Scorpio release before holiday 2017 with Crackdown 3 as one of its launch titles. After all, the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, did say at one point that development of the console is ahead of schedule.
With Sony having relative success with the PlayStation 4 Pro, it shouldn't be too surprising if Microsoft decides to bump the date of Project Scorpio's launch rather than give Sony a full year's head start.
It should be noted that all Microsoft platform-exclusive games will support 4K going forward, and as such, Project Scorpio will have a good amount of 4K games when it becomes available next year.
