Xbox fans have only a couple of months to wait for the next generation of gaming. Microsoft revealed the Xbox Series X during last year’s Game Awards, and has since been trickling out information about the system and its games lineup. We’ve seen what the Xbox Series X controller looks like, learned details about the console’s build and specs, and how the Xbox Series X will handle backward-compatibility. Now, we finally have a release month: The Xbox Series X will launch in November 2020, though it won’t be joined by what many saw as the console’s launch flagship title, Halo: Infinite, which has been delayed to 2021.
Microsoft’s July showcase revealed another wave of games coming to Xbox Series X and showed off some of its upcoming first-party titles, including Fable, Forza Motorsport, and, of course, Halo Infinite. If you missed the stream, we have a roundup of every Xbox Series X game that was announced. Gears Tactics, which previously was only available on PC, will be coming to Xbox Series X later this year.
As expected, no hardware or price information was revealed in the event. A recent run of controllers points to there also being a “Series S” console that might be a cheaper, less powerful alternative. That console reportedly lags behind the Xbox One X in certain metrics, but will likely be a good option for those taking advantage of xCloud to stream games instead of playing them locally.
The Xbox Series X is not available to pre-order yet, but you can sign up for notifications at a number of different retailers. Microsoft will be releasing updates regularly until launch, though it won’t be using the “Xbox 20/20” moniker going forward, as the company has opted to deliver updates on the console and its games more regularly up until release. This means we can expect more games and hardware information to come as we get closer to the Xbox Series X launch.
When will Xbox Series X be available to pre-order?
We don’t have an exact pre-order date for Xbox Series X, but several retailers are now letting people sign up to be notified when the Xbox Series X becomes available for pre-order. (You can also sign up for PS5 pre-order notifications.) If you want to be ready for the exact moment Xbox Series X pre-orders become available, you can still sign-up below at Best Buy, GameStop, and Target to be notified as soon as listings go live. Amazon and Walmart have placeholder listings as well, but no sign-up options are available. Of course, Microsoft will likely announce the Xbox Series X pre-order date ahead of time so you don’t have to worry about pre-orders going live at a moment’s notice–Sony has confirmed as much for the PS5.
Xbox Series X placeholder pages at each retailer:
Xbox Series X release date
Thankfully, we do know the Xbox Series X is releasing later this year–its release date will be sometime in November 2020. While we don’t know the exact date yet, Xbox head Phil Spencer spoke to IGN earlier this year about a “plan B” if the pandemic forces them to stagger the Xbox Series X’s launch, which means it could launch in different dates in various territories. That said, Spencer believes it’s important to have a simultaneous worldwide launch for the Xbox Series X, especially in the age of social media, as the Xbox One’s staggered launch only hurt the console. This should be especially true with the launch of several games supporting free cross-generation upgrades through Smart Delivery this year, including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
How much will the Xbox Series X cost?
We don’t yet know the price for Xbox Series X. While the console was revealed months ago, Microsoft’s plan has been to hold off on revealing a price and opening pre-orders until customers could know for sure what they’re paying for, the company told GameSpot. “We think, in the end, what people want from us is … to put a controller [in their] hand,” said Xbox partner director of program management Jason Ronald in a December 2019 interview. “People tell me, ‘Hey, I want to pre-order right now,’ and we definitely love that–like it’s great to have those fans–but I also know that these investments aren’t trivial for families. I want to be transparent about what our design goals are.”
While the coronavirus pandemic has canceled events like E3 that might have allowed fans to get a hands-on demo of the Xbox Series X, it’s clear Microsoft wants to show the full range of Xbox Series X’s capabilities before announcing a price. Xbox head Phil Spencer has said the company learned a hard lesson from the Xbox One generation about being more expensive and less powerful at the beginning. “We will not be out of position on power or price,” he told The Verge, referring to Xbox Series X.
Microsoft has said it knows exactly what consumers see as a “reasonable” price point for consoles, and it sounds like the Xbox Series X will be on the higher end of normalcy.
- Everything Microsoft Has Said About How Much Xbox Series X Will Cost
What we do know about the Xbox Series X
Following the Xbox One X, Microsoft is poised to once again have the most powerful console on the market. Its GPU has 12 teraflops of power, which is about 1 teraflop more than what Nvidia’s RTX 2080 Super is capable of. The Xbox Series X is capable of displaying true 4K, performing up to 120 frames per second, and storing games on its 1TB custom SSD. Microsoft has also revealed how navigating the Series X interface will look, including a revamp of the current dashboard, phone integration, and more.
The Xbox Series X will make use of propriety expandable storage cards to extend the amount of SSD space the console has. It’s unclear if Microsoft will be the only company producing the special expandable storage (it’s currently working with Seagate to produce the cards).
The SSD storage will be required for Xbox Series X-only games, though you’ll still be able to use your Xbox One’s external hard drives. These external hard drives can be used to store and play backward-compatible games from the Xbox One X, Xbox One S, Xbox 360, and original Xbox. You can also store Series X games on these external hard drives and then transfer them to Series X storage to be played. Speaking of, every game playable on an Xbox One is also playable on the Xbox Series X. Microsoft also said that there won’t be any Xbox Series X-exclusives for the first year or two; Xbox One owners will also be able to play Microsoft’s new games for the next couple years.
As for the Xbox Series X controller, Phil Spencer said Microsoft didn’t feel like it needed to start from “square one” with a new controller. The controller launching with the system looks, at least at first glance, almost identical to the Xbox One controller.
“We think we have a good controller in the market today,” Spencer told GameSpot. “But there were certain things that we’ve learned through doing the Elite controller and just listening to fans. One of them is on the D-pad. We have a new hybrid D-pad that we’ve been working on and think is important.”
The controller also adds a Share button and keeps the rumble triggers and haptic feedback. It’s powered by two AA batteries as opposed to an internal battery that might lose performance and die over time. And you don’t have to own an Xbox Series X to use the new controller: It’s backward-compatible with the Xbox One. All Xbox One controllers, including both Elite controllers, are also compatible with the Xbox Series X. Be sure to check out our guide to the best Xbox One controllers that will be compatible with Xbox Series X.
Xbox Series X And Xbox One News
- Xbox Series X Release Date Set For November
- Halo Infinite Release Date Delayed To 2021
- Xbox Series X: Every Game Available At Launch
- Evidence For Cheaper Next-Gen Xbox Continues To Grow With New Leak
- Xbox Series X: Release Date, Specs, Price, And Everything We Know
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