Project Scorpio fails to impress American gamers according to Nielsen

It looks like Project Scorpio is facing issues when it comes to interest and awareness from the average American gamer. According to a new U.S. Games 360 report by Nielsen, only 13% of American gamers intend to purchase Project Scorpio. However, even established devices like the PlayStation 4 Pro are facing issues. Only 15% intend to purchase the PlayStation 4 Pro and it’s been out since last year! While the Nintendo Switch takes the lead with 16% of gamers intending to pick one up, it’s still not spectacular.

However, what about the general public? If you look all Americans, the numbers for Project Scorpio, PlayStation 4 Pro, and Nintendo Switch drop to 9%, 11% and 12% respectively. According to Nielsen, this may have a lot to do with the fact that many people don’t know about Project Scorpio because Microsoft hasn’t even revealed the look of the console. According to the firm, only 14% of American gamers know what it is. Around 27% of gamers know what the PlayStation 4 is and around 29% of gamers know what the Nintendo Switch is.

Microsoft faces an uphill battle here because not only do they have to increase awareness—E3 2017 should help—but they also make to make people want the device. Right now we haven’t seen any gameplay or compelling screenshots which show clear advantages in terms of visuals. Phil Spencer has to prove to gamers that they need to upgrade. The only way to do this is to show mind-blowing graphical upgrades and flood the internet and television with advertisements of the device. It’s definitely a daunting task and Microsoft still has many months to go. They can definitely pull this off if they leverage the company’s experience in marketing devices like the Surface series. Only time will tell if they do though.