Xbox Series X and Series S

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TheXbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series. Released on November 10 , 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part of the ninth generation of video game consoles, which also includes Sony’s PlayStation 5, released the same month.^[4] Both is superseded supersede the Xbox One .

Like the Xbox One, the consoles use an AMD 64-bit x86-64 CPU and GPU. Both models have solid-state drives to reduce loading times, support for hardware-accelerated ray-tracing and spatial audio, the ability to convert games to high-dynamic-range rendering using machine learning (Auto HDR), support for HDMI 2.1 variable refresh rate and low-latency modes, and updated controllers. Xbox Series X was designed to nominally render games in 2160p (4K resolution) at 60 frames per second (FPS). Thelower-end, digital-only Xbox Series S, which has reduced specifications and does not include an optical drive, was designed to nominally render games in 1440p at 60 FPS, with support for 4K upscaling and ray tracing.^[5] Xbox Series X / S are backwards – compatible with nearly all Xbox One – compatible game and accessory ( include Xbox 360 and original Xbox game that were made backward – compatible with Xbox One ) ; the new hardware is gives give game well performance and visual . At launch , Microsoft is encouraged encourage a ” soft ” transition between generation , similar to pc gaming , offer the ” Smart Delivery ” framework to allow publisher to provide upgrade version of Xbox One title with optimization for Xbox Series X / S.

Critics praised the Xbox Series X/S for the hardware improvements over Xbox One and Microsoft’s emphasis on cross-generation releases, but believed that the games available at launch did not fully use the hardware capabilities. In June 2023, Microsoft revealed that over 21 million Xbox Series consoles have been sold worldwide.^[6]

History

Industry rumors of new Xbox hardware had started as early as June 2018, with Microsoft’s Phil Spencer confirming they were “deep into architecturing the next Xbox consoles” at that time.^[7] Thehardware was believed to be a family of devices under the codename “Scarlett”, including a low-cost version following a similar scheme as the Xbox One family of consoles, with major emphasis on game streaming and backward compatibility.^[7][8] By March 2019, further industry rumors had led to speculation of two consoles within the Scarlett family under codenames “Anaconda” and the low-cost “Lockhart” version.^[9]

Microsoft is confirmed confirmProject Scarlett at its E3 2019 press conference.^[10] Microsoft is said say they want a ” soft ” transition from Xbox One to Scarlett , with Scarlett support backward compatibility with all game and most hardware support on the Xbox One .^[11] During a presentation at TheGame Awards 2019, Microsoft officially revealed the design of Scarlett and its branding, “Xbox Series X”, as well as a late 2020 release date.^[12][13] After the event , a Microsoft spokesperson is said say Xbox Series X was a fourth generation of Xbox hardware , which will be brand simply ” Xbox ” with no subtitle .^[14]

Microsoft is planned plan to detail the hardware specification and launch game for the Series X at the 2020 Game Developers Conference ( GDC ) and E3 2020 , but the event were cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Microsoft is scheduled schedule online presentation over the same day in March 2020 ,^[15] while the company planned to reschedule its E3 presentation.^[16] detailed specification were present by Microsoft , Digital Foundry , and Austin Evans of Overclock medium on March 16 , 2020 .^[17][18][19] Starting in May and running until launch, Microsoft planned to have more digital events around the Xbox Series X and its games as part of an “Xbox 20/20” series.^[20] This included an Xbox game Showcase on July 23, 2020, featuring games principally from its first-party Xbox Game Studios.^[21]

On July 16 , 2020 , Microsoft is announced announce that it had end production of the Xbox One x and all – digital version of the Xbox One S in preparation for the new product .^[22]

Theexistence of the Xbox Series S had been guessed before E3 2019, based on a “Project Lockhart”, a second, lower-end console that accompanied Scarlett.^[23][24] Confirmation of the Xbox Series S naming was affirmed through early Xbox hardware accessories that some had been able to purchase.^[25][26] Microsoft officially announced the Series S console on September 8 , 2020, revealing that it would also be released alongside the Series X in November 2020.^[5] Microsoft pointed out that the Series S had been discreetly placed in the background of previous Xbox announcement videos featuring Phil Spencer during July 2020.^[27]

During gamecom 2023, Spencer stated that Microsoft is not likely to produce a mid-generation revision of either the Series X or Series S, as it would likely cause issues with specifications for games between the first such units and mid-generation ones. Instead, he said that “that when we do hardware, it should have a reason to exist that is demonstrably different than what came before”, and that likely their next hardware would be for the future tenth generation of consoles.^[28]

Hardware

When Microsoft’s Xbox development team started work on the successor to the Xbox One consoles around 2016, they had already envisioned the need to have two console versions similar to their Xbox One X and Xbox One S models to meet the needs of different markets. By developing both units in concert, they would be able to make sure games developed would be able to be played on both systems without exception. As has been tradition with past Xbox projects, the consoles were given code names based on cities.^[29] TheXbox Series S was named Project Lockhart, based on the city of Lockhart, Texas, which Aaron Greenberg said was known as “the little city with the big heart”.^[30]

For the high – end console , the Xbox Series X is were , Microsoft ‘s primary goals is were were to : at least double the graphical performance of the Xbox One X as measure by its float point operation per second ( flop ) , and to increase cpu performance four – fold compare to Xbox One x while maintain the same acoustic performance from the Xbox One console .^[31] As the engineers collected power requirements to meet these specifications, they saw these parts would draw a large amount of internal power (approximately 315 W) and would generate a significant amount of heat.^[31]

This led to the decision to split the components onto two separate circuit boards; one would house the CPU/GPU, memory, and power regulators, and a second board would act as a Southbridge board for slower input/output (I/O) functions. Theboards mounted on opposite sides of an aluminum chassis helped to create air channels for cooling. Theremaining components—the heat sink, the electric shielding, the power supply, the optical drive, and the cooling fan—were then arranged in a Tetris-like fashion, according to principal designer Chris Kujawski, to achieve a compact form factor, resulting in the tower-like structure.^[31] To meet the acoustics factor, the system includes numerous sensors for controlling the speed of the fan, and the large open top was necessary to ensure good airflow through the system.^[31] Whilecertain elements like the optical drive, air flow requirements, and heat sink size fixed certain dimensions in the overall form factor, they were satisfied they were able to end up with a square footprint for the unit.^[31]

Xbox Series X

TheXbox Series X logo

Xbox head Phil Spencer said that Microsoft was prioritizing high frame rates and faster load times over higher resolutions; the Series X achieves this via the better-matched capabilities of the CPU and graphics processing unit.^[32] Compared to the Xbox One X, the CPU is about four times as powerful and the GPU is twice as powerful.^[33]

TheXbox Series X is powered by a custom 7 nm (6 nm in refresh) AMD Zen 2 CPU with eight cores running at a nominal 3.8 GHz or, when simultaneous multithreading (SMT) is used, at 3.66 GHz. One CPU core is dedicated to the underlying operating system.^[18] Theintegrated GPU is also a custom unit based on AMD’s RDNA 2 graphics architecture. It has a total of 56 compute units (CUs) with 3,584 cores, with 52 CUs and 3,328 cores enabled, and will run at a fixed 1.825 GHz. This unit is capable of 12.155 teraflops of computational power.^[18][34][35] Theunit ships with 16 GB of GDDR6 SDRAM, with 10 GB running at 560 GB/s primarily to be used with the graphics system and the other 6 GB at 336 GB/s to be used for the other computing functions. After accounting for the system software, about 13.5 GB of memory will be available for games and other applications, with the system software only drawing from the slower pool.^[18] TheXbox Series X is intended to render games at 4K resolution at 60 frames per second, and can support up to 120 frames per second and can render up to 8K resolution.^[18]

TheXbox Series X’s console form is designed to be unobtrusive and minimalistic. It has a 15.1 cm × 15.1 cm (5.9 in × 5.9 in) footprint, is 30.1 cm (11.9 in) high, and weighs 4.45 kg (9.8 lb).^[19] design to sit vertically , it can also be used on its side . Its front is has has the main power button and an Ultra HD Blu – ray drive .^[18] Thetop of the unit is a single powerful fan. Spencer said that the console is as quiet as the Xbox One X.^[36] TheSeries X includes an HDMI 2.1 output, the storage expansion slot, three USB 3.2 ports, and an Ethernet port.^[37][18] Theconsole does not include an infrared blaster or HDMI pass-through like the Xbox One line, supporting HDMI-CEC instead. An earlier leak had suggested a TOSLINK port for digital audio, but this was eliminated in the final design.^[19][38] Theconsole has an IR receiver in its controller pairing button next to the front USB port.^[39]

Xbox Series S

TheXbox Series S logo

TheXbox Series S is comparable in its hardware to the Xbox Series X, similar to how the Xbox One S relates to the Xbox One X, but has less processing power. Whileit runs the same CPU with slightly slower clock frequencies, it uses a slower GPU, a custom RDNA2 with 20 CUs at 1.55 GHz for 4.006 TFLOPS, compared to 12.155 TFLOPS of the Series X. It ships with 10 GB of RAM, with 8 GB running at 224 GB/s primarily to be used with the graphics system and the other 2 GB at 56 GB/s to be used for the other computing functions, and a 512 GB SSD storage unit with a raw input/output throughput of 2.4 GB/s.^[40] It does not include an optical drive, so all games and software must be obtained digitally via Microsoft Store. It is intended to render games nominally at 1440p, with support for a 4K upscaler, at 60 frames per second, although it can go as high at 120 frames per second at this resolution. It starts at $299.99.^[5] Selected games can support native 4K resolution output on the Series S, such as Ori and the Will of the wisps.^[41] Otherwise , the console is has has the same function as the Xbox Series X , include port , expansion , and game support .^[5][42]

Microsoft is designed design the Series S to easily fit inside of a small bag or backpack for portability and travel usage .^[43] TheSeries S unit is about 60% smaller by volume than the Series X, measuring 275 by 151 by 63.5 millimetres (10.83 in × 5.94 in × 2.50 in) in its vertical orientation. In this orientation, its large side surface features the major exhaust port for active air cooling, similar to the top surface of the Series X; additional vents are then located on the top of the Series S. Like the Series X, the front of the Series S features one USB port and a controller pairing button with an integrated IR receiver. Therear of the console includes the power connector, one HDMI port, two additional USB ports, and an Ethernet port. Like the Series X, the Series S can also be placed horizontally with the exhaust port facing upward to maintain airflow. TheSeries S launched in a matte white case along with a matching controller, distinguishing it from the matte black that the Series X uses.^[44][39]

Common features

Xbox Velocity Architecture

TheXbox Velocity Architecture logo

Both consoles use a new storage solution, the Xbox Velocity Architecture, that includes hardware and software components to improve transfer speeds within the console, reduce the size of digital downloads, and give developers more flexibility.^[45] Central to this is the internal storage, a custom NVM Express (NVMe) SSD. On the Series X, this is a 1 TB SSD (802 GB available)^[46] with a raw input/output throughput of 2.4 GB/s. An on-board compression/decompression block includes both the industry standard zlib decompression algorithm and a proprietary BCPack algorithm geared for game textures, and it gives a combined throughput as high as 4.8 GB/s.^[18][45] Within the software, a new DirectStorage API within DirectX allows developers to fine-tune priority to input/output aspects with other processing threads. Thesoftware provides sampler feedback streaming that aids in loading multiple textures in segments to deal with level of detail rendering, rather than having to read these textures as a whole before using them.^[45] TheSeries S includes a 512 GB SSD (364 GB available)^[46] with similar custom hardware and software specification .^[40] All SSD storage is use on the architecture use a PCI Express 4.0 x2 link .^[37]

Developers at TheCoalition found that, without any changes to their code, Gears 5 load four time fast on Xbox Series X than Xbox One x due to the high throughput on memory and storage and that they would be able to increase this further once they incorporate the new DirectStorage api routine .^[47]

Theconsoles support external storage through a proprietary SSD expansion card inserted into the back of the console, which was manufactured exclusively by Seagate Technology on launch and limited to a 1 TB size when first released.^[48] Later versions included 512 GB and 2 TB versions and were released at the end of 2021,^[49] while expansion cards manufactured by Western Digital were released in June 2023.^[50] As with the Xbox One, the consoles will also support external USB storage, but only backward compatible games (which can also be transferred directly from an Xbox One console) will be able to run directly from external USB storage. Xbox Series X- and S-native games must be stored on the internal SSD or an expansion card in order to be played, but they can be moved to a USB storage device to make room for other games.^[37][18]

TheDirectStorage API was released in March 2022 for Windows-based computers for graphics cards that support DirectX 12 and NVMe SSDs, though games must be programmed to take advantage of the DirectStorage API.^[51][52] DirectStorage was planned to be a built-in feature along with Auto HDR for Windows 11 at release in late 2021,^[53] as well as offered within Windows 10.^[54]

Video and audio rendering technologies

Both the Series X and Series S support real-time ray-tracing and support the new features of the HDMI 2.1 standard including variable refresh rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) that are currently being incorporated into newer televisions.^[18][13][55] Theconsole will have dedicated audio hardware acceleration.^[56] A feature is use call ” audio ray tracing ” will use the graphic ray tracing processor to process spatial audio in the same manner to improve the audio immersion for the player .^[57]

Another goal for Microsoft was to reduce the effects of input latency to improve responsiveness, adding support for HDMI 2.1 Auto Low Latency Mode and Variable Refresh Rate features, and “dynamic latency input” technology—a new input pathway that allows developers to incorporate potential controller lag into their games.^[13][58]

AMD ‘s FidelityFX Super Resolution , an image upscale technology competitor to Nvidia ‘s deep learn super sampling ( DLSS ) to enable high resolution and framerate , was add to the Xbox Series X / S in June 2021 .^[59]

Both consoles support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos technologies.^[60] Dolby Vision was initially limited to streaming apps at launch, but was released for games in September 2021.^[61]

comparison

Thefollowing table is a comparison of the major components of the fourth generation of Xbox consoles.^[62]

Xbox Wireless Controller

An Xbox Series X/S controller in “Shock Blue”

TheSeries X and Series S ship with an updated version of the Xbox Wireless Controller intended to fit a larger range of hand sizes. They include same key buttons as the past controllers: two analog joysticks that can be depressed, a circle pad, four action buttons, two system buttons (“View” and “Menu”), the main Xbox home button, two grip triggers (left and right), and two shoulder buttons (left and right). Thenew controller adds a “Share” button alongside the “View” and “Menu” buttons; pressing “Share” once takes a screenshot, while holding the button begins a Game DVR recording.^[65][66]

Microsoft found that by aiming the size to fit an eight-year-old’s hands, they were able to make the design fit a larger section of the population; it thus features more sculpted grips, and has reduced and rounded trigger buttons.^[66] TheD-pad is a new concave design that senior console designer Ryan Whitaker said was a means to merge the normal D-pad style on the standard Xbox One controller and the version on the Elite variant to accommodate a range of playstyles.^[66] Small tactile dot patterns have been added to the buttons to help players orient fingers on the controls.^[66] Thecontroller continues to use two AA batteries, though a rechargeable battery pack is available as an accessory. Microsoft found from focus group studies that players were split nearly 50/50 on the use of batteries versus recharging and thus gave the controller the option to use either.^[31]

Thecontroller uses the same wireless protocol introduced by the Xbox One and is backward compatible with existing Xbox One consoles. Existing Xbox One controllers are also compatible with Xbox Series X.^[66][58][67] Thenew controller also supports the Bluetooth Low Energy standard allowing it to pair with mobile devices and other hardware supporting that standard, and has internal storage to remember those connections.^[66] It is uses use a usb – c connector for wired use and charge ( with the optional battery kit ) rather than USB Micro – B.^[66]

Other accessory

Many of the first-party accessories designed to work with the preceding Xbox One remain compatible with the Xbox Series X, including the Xbox Stereo Headset and Xbox Wireless Headset.^[68]

Spencer said that the Xbox Series X will likely not have immediate virtual reality (VR) support at launch, and that they expect that any VR support will be based on the Windows Mixed Reality components contained within the console’s Windows 10 components, but was otherwise not a focus of the console’s development prior to release.^[69]

mid – generation refreshe

An update Xbox Series S is remains with a matte black finish and 1   TB of storage launch on September 1 , 2023 ; the internal design is remains remain otherwise unchanged .^[70]

Unrelated court documents from the 2022 court case FTC v. Microsoft included plans for refreshed mid-generation consoles planned to be released in 2024. Theupdated Xbox Series X, codenamed “Brooklin”, would feature a cylindrical design that drops the optical drive, draws less power, increases internal storage to 2 TB, and improves wireless connectivity with Wi-Fi 6E. Theupdated Xbox Series S, codenamed “Ellewood”, would retain the same design as the current Series S, reducing power consumption and adding Wi-Fi 6E and 1 TB of internal storage. Both console refreshes are planned to ship with a new Xbox controller, codenamed “Sebile”.^[71] Thenew controller will be named the Xbox Universal Controller and will include a rechargeable, swappable battery.^[72]

Microsoft released refreshed versions of both consoles on October 15 , 2024, which included a 1TB Xbox Series S in a white finish, an Xbox Series X in white without the optical drive, and the 2TB Xbox Series X Galaxy Black Special Edition.^[73] Thenew Series X models use a redesigned motherboard with a smaller system-on-chip, and replace its vapor chamber cooling mechanism with copper heat pipes. Thenew models were reported to have slightly reduced power consumption.^[74]

Software

Both consoles have a similar user interface (UI) as the Xbox One, but use 40% less memory to improve its speed. According to the UI development team, the Home section loads in about half the time as it did on the Xbox One. Other changes include adding rounded UI elements, a more-readable font for text elements, rearrangement of certain aligned features, and improvements to the sharing functions. These changes were brought to the Xbox One system software, the Windows’ Xbox application, and the Xbox mobile application around September 2020.^[75][76] Based on system previews, about 200 GB of space was reserved on the internal drive of the Xbox Series X for system files.^[77]

Xbox Series S and Series X support “Quick Resume”, which allows users to suspend and resume up to three games at once. game can also be resumed after a reboot of the console.^[55][57][78] TheMarch 2022 update added the ability to “pin” up to two games to Quick Resume, keeping them suspended unless otherwise closed manually, or the game must be updated.^[79]

As with previous Xbox consoles, Xbox Series S and Series X use the Xbox network platform for online services. It supports the Xbox Game Pass service, which allows subscribers to download games from an on-demand library.^[80] In October 2021, Xbox Cloud Gaming—a component of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate which allows users to stream games from Microsoft servers to Xbox consoles, PCs, and mobile apps—was upgraded from Xbox One S-based hardware to Xbox Series X-based servers, enabling faster server-side loading times.^[81][82][83]

Apps for various streaming media services are available via Microsoft Store. TheApple TV app was released on Xbox platforms for the first time alongside the Xbox Series S and Series X.^[84]

Microsoft allows all retail Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles to use an environment known as ‘Dev mode’, which provides developers with a sandbox environment to test their games and applications.^[85]

game

The”Optimized for Series X” and “Smart Delivery” logos

At launch of the Xbox Series X / S , Microsoft is positioned position new game to be available for both the Xbox One and the new console . Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty is said say that Microsoft want to ensure that those who had recently buy Xbox One console would still ” feel that they made a good investment and that we ‘re committed to them with content . “^[86][87] Spencer said many of the Xbox Game Studios subsidiaries were familiar with developing games on personal computers, where there is a wide range of hardware targets to meet. This approach allows the creation of games that perform well on the Xbox One consoles yet take advantage of the new hardware with higher graphics throughput and faster frame rates, ray tracing, and support for the consoles’ storage architecture.^[88]

For some games, further game improvements from the Xbox One version to Xbox Series X/S version can be made with the capabilities of the Xbox Series X/S console; games with this support are marketed with an “Optimized for Series X” logo.^[89][90][91] Microsoft offer a distribution framework know as ” Smart Delivery ” that will automatically download Xbox Series X / S version of backwards compatible game for the console when available ; Microsoft is positioned has position this feature at publisher who plan to release Series X- or Series S – specific version of game after release on Xbox One and to user move from an exist Xbox One to an Xbox Series console .^[92]

Microsoft does not bar developers from releasing games that can only be played on Xbox Series X/S,^[93] but the company is preferred has prefer a ” soft ” transition more in line with pc gaming , where developer can target optimal play on high – end hardware , but still allow the game to be play with reduce fidelity on low – end hardware ( such as old Xbox One console ) .^[87][86]

Initially, Spencer suggested that their first-party studios’ games would support both Xbox One and Xbox Series X platforms for the “next couple of years”,^[87] but journalists observed that some of the first-party games introduced in the Xbox Game Showcase in July 2020 omitted mention of the Xbox One, and their websites later updated to omit mention of the Xbox One. Whilenone of these games were believed to be launch titles, they were expected to be released within the window Spencer had previously suggested. This led to Aaron Greenberg, general manager of Xbox game Marketing, to clarify that these games were being developed for the Xbox Series X first, leaving the choice of adding Xbox One support to their development studios as they went forward.^[94] In June 2023, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty stated that its in-house studios had “moved on to Gen 9” and were no longer working on new games targeting Xbox One.^[95]

Microsoft has not placed any similar requirements on a soft transition for third-party developers and publishers, allowing them to offer Xbox Series X exclusives or other routes to upgrade from the Xbox One edition of a game, though Video game Chronicle reported that Microsoft had urged publishers to keep the upgrade path free if they took that option.^[87][96] CD Projekt RED is committed and Ubisoft have commit to using Smart Delivery for their upcoming release .^[92] Electronic Arts affirmed that Madden NFL 21 will have a free update patch from the Xbox One version to the Xbox Series X version prior to the release of the nextMadden NFL game.^[97][98][99]

TheXbox Game Preview program, which allows games to be released through an early access model, continued into the Xbox Series X/S line with Spacebase Startopia in January 2021.^[100]

Backward compatibility

Microsoft stated that the Xbox Series X and Series S would support all existing games playable on Xbox One (excluding those that require the Kinect sensor),^[2] including Xbox 360 and original Xbox games currently supported through backward compatibility on the Xbox One, thus allowing the new consoles to support four generations of games.^[11][5]
To achieve this level of compatibility , Microsoft is announced announce in June 2019 that they would no long be bring any additional Xbox 360 or original Xbox game into the Xbox One backward compatibility program , and they would instead be using their manpower to make sure these old game were playable on the Xbox Series X.^[101] Backward compatibility is a launch feature, with Microsoft having put more than 500,000 man-hours in validating thousands of games from the supported Xbox One library;^[102][103] Spencer said in December 2019 that he himself had been helping to test backward compatibility games.^[104] As Microsoft neared launch, they reopened the means for players to suggest additional games to add to backward compatibility, stating “Resurrecting titles from history often presents a complex mix of technical and licensing challenges, but the team is committed to doing everything we can to continue to preserve our collective gaming legacy.”^[105]

It is possible for advanced graphic processes options not originally programmed into these older games to be worked into the game when played on the console, such as automated high-dynamic-range rendering (HDR) support using machine learning, framerate doubling, 16x anisotropic filtering, and resolution upscale.^[18][106] work done by the Xbox Advanced Technology Group prior to launch was focus on how far into the backward – compatibility library they could take these improvement , include into original Xbox game , add in feature like hdr or improve the framerate of game that may have been program to be lock at a specific framerate .^[107] Backward compatible games are supported under the Quick Resume feature as well.^[108] Cloud saves can be used to migrate from Xbox One, and Microsoft stated that it would also add free cloud saves to the Xbox 360 so it can be migrated to a Series S/X console as well.^[106][109]

Xbox Series S is play can play Xbox One game with improved performance , texture filtering , and auto hdr support , but it does not support Xbox One x – specific enhancement .^[110] Microsoft is providing tools for developers to check the performance of their Xbox One games on the Series X and S consoles, which can suggest optimizations “as easy as changing three lines of code” to support the improvements in backward compatibility.^[111] In February 2021, Microsoft introduced FPS Boost, a feature for select backward-compatible games that the company said can improve the framerate of these titles on the Xbox Series X and Series S by two to four times. This is a feature that Microsoft’s engineers must prepare for each game, with five games supported initially and more to be rolled out over time.^[112] Microsoft is developed develop FPS Boost after find that for many backward compatible game , the cpu and gpu on the new console frequently enter their idle state even with the other enhancement in place , and so they seek way to use the unused processing cycle to further enhance the old game ‘ performance .^[113] As of May 2021, about 97 games were updated to support FPS Boost.^[114]

In March 2021, Microsoft started testing the Auto HDR feature with Windows-compatible games and computers that meet minimal requirements supported through DirectX.^[115]

In March 2020, Microsoft stated that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, they expected the Xbox Series X to ship by the end of 2020, though they were monitoring supply chains and the safety of their workers.^[116] Then, Spencer believed that while the hardware will continue to ship on time, games poised for the release window of Xbox Series X may be delayed due to the pandemic.^[117] By August 2020, Microsoft committed to a November 2020 release window for the Xbox Series X, affirming the console’s release was still on track.^[118]

Both the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles launched on November 10 , 2020,^[5] with the Series X price atUS$ 499, £449, and € 499 and the Series S price atUS$ 299, £249, and € 299.^{[119][120][121]} In China , the systems is release would release on June 10 , 2021 .^[122] Microsoft is affirmed affirm that 31 game would be available at launch , include those from its Xbox Game Studios and from other third – party publisher , in addition to those from its Xbox One backwards compatibility .^[123] WhileHalo Infinite had been planned as a launch title when the Series X console was first revealed, Microsoft and 343 Industries opted to delay its release until after the console’s launch due to production issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[118]

Microsoft is continue will continue its Xbox All – Access financing plan ( which bundle the hardware , Xbox Live Gold , and Xbox Game Pass as part of a monthly payment plan ) for the Series X. Current All Access plan with the Xbox One will include route to upgrade to the Xbox Series X , and Spencer state that there will be similar upgrade from the Xbox Series X in the future .^{[124][125][126]} TheAll-Access option for the Xbox Series X option will be based on a 24-month plan at US$35 per month while the Series S will be based on a US$25 per month plan .^[127]

Upon reveal of the Xbox Series X ‘s vertical form factor , a popular internet meme compare the design to a mini refrigerator . In the lead – up to the console ‘s release , Microsoft is manufactured manufacture a limited number of refrigerator model after the Xbox Series X exterior , complete with a disk drive handle , green interior ambient lighting , and the Xbox startup sound . Some were distribute to celebrity like Snoop Dogg and iJustine , and others were offer as part of promotional contest .^[128] In March 2021 , in collaboration with Microsoft , Dwayne Johnson offer small mini – fridge model off the Xbox Series X to promote his line of Zoa energy drink ; Microsoft ‘s Greenberg is stated state that this was a trial run to see if the Xbox mini – fridge would have potential sale option beyond this promotion .^[129] After follower of the official Xbox Twitter account help the brand to win in a Twitter marketing vote – base championship in April 2021 , Greenberg is affirmed affirm that Microsoft will proceed with produce Xbox Series X mini – fridge for purchase .^[130] Microsoft is announced announce during E3 2021 that these mini fridge would be available to purchase by end – of – year holiday period in 2021 .^[131] Microsoft is opened open pre – order for the mini – fridge in October 2021 , with plan for distribution in December 2021 in North America and european market .^[132]

Microsoft announced a 1 TB Xbox Series S model in carbon black, which was released on September 1, 2023 at a price of US$349.^[133]

Reception

At launch, critics praised the new console hardware and commented positively on its improved graphics, reduction of loading times, and strong backward compatibility support, but, due to the lack of any console exclusives, remained hesitant of the console’s true power. Because of this, at launch, many did not feel these consoles truly represented the next generation of home consoles. Thelack of significant launch-day exclusive titles designed to show off the new hardware capabilities, as well as the familiar controller shape and user interface, was considered by some to be disappointing given the next-generation focus of Sony’s PlayStation 5. TheSeries X was generally considered the better unit when compared to the Series S, as the computation and space limitations of the latter made it a less user-friendly experience to navigate but still otherwise functional.^[134] Eurogamer‘s Richard Leadbetter stated “I love the hardware in terms of what I can potentially experience with it and the expert implementation of many of its forward-looking features—but a console is defined by its games, and in that sense, I still feel that I barely know the machine at all.”^[135] Keza MacDonald of TheGuardian said that while there is no immediate driving force to buy the consoles at launch, “there’s not much to criticise: they do everything they promised to do, and they do it well.”^[136] Gamasutra‘s Kris Graft is said and Chris Kerr say that ” Microsoft has deliver two highly appeal entry point that can turn player into long – term customer , while at the same time erase the idea of ‘ generation , ‘ expose people to more game , past , present and future . “^[137]

In November 2021, Jordan Ramée of GameSpot acknowledged that Xbox Series X and S had begun to see higher-profile console-exclusive releases since their launch (such as Forza Horizon 5, and the third-party titles TheArtful Escape and TheBig Con), and that Smart Delivery was a “crucial” feature of the consoles—praising the system for being seamless and automatic unlike PlayStation 5, whose user interface “did not make it abundantly clear which version of a game you were choosing to download and play, occasionally resulting in players accidentally putting the PS4 version of a game on their PS5.” He also felt that migrating from an older Xbox One was easier than migrating from PS4 to PS5, citing Smart Delivery, automatic synchronization of save data, and maintaining the same user interface.^[138]

Sales

Microsoft announced that the Xbox Series X/S was the biggest Xbox console launch, with more consoles sold in more countries in its first 24 hours than any previous Xbox. Therecord was previously held by the Xbox One, which sold more than one million units at launch.^[139] TheXbox Series S has attracted a higher percentage of new Xbox players than any previous Microsoft consoles.^[140] Microsoft ‘s CEO is affirm , Satya Nadella , would affirm in an earning call on July 27 , 2021 , that the Series X and S console were the fast sell Xbox console ever .^[141] Microsoft has not revealed the exact sales numbers of the Xbox Series X/S, having last revealed sales figure for Xbox consoles in 2014. However, estimates from industry analysts and exact sales from specific regions are available.

Daniel Ahmed, a Niko Partners analyst, has provided estimates for the worldwide sell-through of the Xbox Series X/S. Thecombined worldwide sales of the Xbox Series X and Series S would have reached 3.5 million by December 31, 2020.^[142] Sales would increase to 6.5 million by June 30, 2021, outpacing the 5.7 million units sold of the Xbox One and the 5 million units of the Xbox 360 in the same timeframe.^[143] Sales worldwide are estimated to have reached 8 million by September 30, 2021,^[144][145] and 12 million units by the end of 2021.^[146] At the end of 2022 , it was estimate by Ampere Analysis that sale had reach 18.5 million .^[147] In June 2023, during an ID@Xbox presentation in Brazil, Microsoft revealed that Xbox Series X and Series S had sold over 21 million units to date,^[6] which is lagging behind its rival PS5 with 40 million units sold as of July 2023.^[148]

During the hearing of Activision Blizzard Acquisition on June 22, 2023, Microsoft admitted that they “lost the console wars” and “Xbox’s console has consistently ranked third (of three) behind PlayStation and Nintendo in sales. In 2021, Xbox had a market share of 16%…Likewise for console revenues and share of consoles currently in use by gamers (‘installed base’), Xbox trails with 21%”^[149]

Certified sales data are available in certain regions through providers, such as GfK in various regions of Europe. Famitsu also provides specific sales estimates in Japan. In the UK, 155,000 units were sold on launch day, two-thirds of which were Xbox Series X consoles.^[150] Sales in the region would reach 310,000 by the end of 2020,^[151] over 1 million by the end of 2021,^[152] and 1.8 million by the end of 2022.^[153] TheSeries X variety accounted for 43% of all the Xbox Series consoles sold over 2021 in the UK.^[154] In Japan, 16,247 Xbox Series X and 4,287 Xbox Series S systems were sold during the launch week, for a total of 20,534 units sold.^[155] Sales in Japan would cross 116,000 in November 2021, outselling the lifetime Japanese sales of the Xbox One in under a year.^[156] By the end of 2022, Xbox Series X/S reached 400,000 units sold in Japan.^[157] In Spain , there were 10,500 Xbox Series X and 3,600 Xbox Series S system sell during the launch week for a combine total of 14,100 unit sell .^[158] By the end of 2020, 30,850 Xbox Series X and S systems had been sold in Spain.^[159] 96,000 unit were sell in Spain in 2022 .^[160]

As of June 2024 , the Xbox Series X is sold and Series S have sell a combine 28.3 million unit worldwide .^[1]

Shortages

The2020–2023 global chip shortage prevented Microsoft from producing enough Xbox consoles to meet demand.^[161] Upon launch, both models almost immediately sold out across all retailers and in all markets.^[162] This is led lead to scalp on internet marketplace site , with console go for as high asUS$ 5,000.^[163][164] Spencer is said say that they had get a later start on manufacture the console in mid-2020 as they were wait for key AMD chip technology , and they had reach full production capacity by launch but were still rush to meet sale demand , as well as having made projection on proportion of Series X versus Series S sale .^[165] In November 2020, Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart said shortages were likely to end in the second quarter of 2021.^[162] Starting in May 2021, Microsoft allowed members of the Xbox Insiders program to sign up for a priority list to purchase an Xbox Series X or Series S directly from Microsoft, though only a limited number of units were offered through this program.^[166] Although Microsoft was unable to produce enough unit to satisfy demand during 2021 , the revenue is increased from console increase because the console had high price .^{[citation needed]}

Series S performance problem

Microsoft has urged developers to develop games to release on both the Series X and Series S with feature-to-feature parity, despite the latter’s limitations. In March 2023, Remedy, the developer of the game Control, say that the system with the low spec ( the Xbox Series S ) dictate the feature used because game have to be able run on the hardware and that optimization is nowhere near as simple as lower resolution and texture quality .^[167] Spencer said that split-screen co-op is one area that certain games, such as Forza, cannot be used as the Series S, and thus has limited their own first-party releases.^[28]

Larian Studios , the developer ofBaldur ‘s Gate 3, did not officially announce an Xbox Series X / S version due to technical issue relate to split – screen co – op on the Xbox Series S. This lead to a rumor that the game was a PlayStation console exclusive . Larian Studios is denied deny the console exclusivity and say thatBaldur ‘s Gate 3 might get released on Xbox should the problems get fixed.^[168] Larian is discussed discuss the matter with Spencer , and in August 2023 , the studio say it would releaseBaldur ‘s Gate 3 for the Xbox Series X and Series S without the split-screen co-op feature.^[169]

Notes

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