Xbox Series S announced, Series X finally gets priced and dated
There’s been a whirlwind of news this morning regarding the upcoming Xbox Series X and Series S. After a flurry of leaks that came out in the wee hours, we now, finally, have official confirmation about their release dates, and how much they’ll cost.
Let’s get the big news out of the way first. Microsoft has confirmed that the Series X will release on November 10th at $499 USD. This is on the lower end of what a lot of pundits expected Microsoft’s premium console to cost, and should be welcome news for Xbox fans.
Moving on to the Series S, Microsoft has confirmed that its budget next gen option does indeed exist. Though they are still keeping rather tight lipped on the specs, aside from it being a digital only console. Yep, they finally got rid of those pesky discs.
The unit itself bares striking resemblance to the current Xbox One lineup, with an all-white boxy chassis and a massive vent on top. Suggesting that Microsoft has chosen to stick with the same cooling methods used on their last gen consoles.
A leaked video does suggest that it will include a 4.0 TFLOPs RDNA2 graphics chip, which should set it roughly on par with the current Xbox One X. Remember that AMD’s Navi architecture is a lot more efficient than their last gen GCN, so don’t get too wrapped up on those teraflop numbers.
It will apparently be able to output 1440p video at up to 120fps, with support for higher end features such as ray tracing and variable rate shading. Though how well those will end up performing remains to be seen. It will also allegedly feature a 512GB SSD.
The Series S will also launch on November 10th at a price of just $299. Yep, same as the Nintendo Switch. Showing that Microsoft is taking quite the aggressive stance going into the 9th generation.
Meanwhile in the PlayStation camp, Sony has yet to reveal a release date of pricing for their upcoming PS5. Though I strongly expect it will cost roughly the same. Averting gamers’ fears that 9th gen hardware would incur a massive price hike. Circumstantial evidence does suggest supply issues on the blue team, so it’ll be interesting to see when and how they make their move. I expect some sort of news on that front in the next week or two.
Sources: Windows Central | Hot Hardware
