Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S release date and price finally revealed

Xbox Series S And X Together (Image credit: @_h0x0d_)

What you need to know

Xbox Series S console design finally leaked.
We can confirm the Xbox Series S is $299, and the Series X is $499.
Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X will launch on November 10, 2020.
Microsoft has since partially confirmed our report, unveiling the Xbox Series S with a $299 price tag.

Update, September 8 (3:18 a.m. ET) — Microsoft unveils Xbox Series S with $299 price tag

Microsoft has responded to recent reports, officially unveiling the Xbox Series S with a $299 retail price in the U.S. The company states the next-generation console comes in its "smallest" footprint to date, with more details to come "soon."

Update, September 8 (12:38: p.m. ET) — Microsoft confirms our launch date.

Microsoft has officially confirmed our November 10, 2020 launch date at the end of the Xbox Series S launch trailer, which you can view below.

Update, September 9 (7.58 a.m. ET) — Microsoft confirms Xbox Series X $499 price.

Microsoft has officially confirmed our previous leak on the Xbox Series X price, clocking in at $499. Additionally, pre-orders will open on September 22, ahead of the November 10 launch.

It has long been rumored that Microsoft is working on two Xbox consoles for next-gen, aiming to claim both ends of the market. And now, we can confirm indeed that the pricing scheme should be very familiar, matching that of the Xbox One X and Xbox One S of yesteryear.

We can confirm via our sources that the entry-level Xbox Series S will cost $299 at retail, with a $25 per month Xbox All Access financing option, which Microsoft is planning to push hard via various retailers and a large global rollout. The more powerful Xbox Series X will cost $499, with a $35 per month Xbox All Access financing option.

Both consoles will launch on November 10, 2020.

The Xbox Series S just leaked (via Brad Sams), giving us a glimpse at Microsoft's entry-level next-gen SKU. The Xbox Series S is small enough to fit inside an Xbox Series X, and we expect it to be around 4TF RDNA2, making it roughly around as powerful as the Xbox One X, perhaps geared towards 1080p monitors with better frame rates. We don't have further details on the console's capabilities beyond that, but we expect NVME drives, and many of the newer "next-gen" features like fast resuming multiple games, and ray tracing.

The Xbox Series X is a 12TF beast of a console that will boast 4K resolution and 60 FPS as standard, with some games, like Halo Infinite, going all the way up to 120 FPS in multiplayer.

The prices Microsoft have put forward for the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X put them firmly in-line with the Xbox One S and Xbox One X, and it will be interesting to see how Sony prices the competing PlayStation 5 in response. Microsoft has committed to bringing the entire Xbox One game library, including backwards compatible Xbox 360 games forward to the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X, and your best Xbox One headset and all of your other accessories "will just work" on the next-gen systems as well.

Microsoft will push Xbox All Access financing far more broadly than it did this gen, which was seen as a bit of a pilot program. We're expecting Xbox All Access to roll out to far more markets than it did previously, and we also expect the Xbox Series consoles to gun for a global simultaneous launch in all existing Xbox markets, rather than the slow rollout we saw for the Xbox One in 2013.

Xbox Series X/S

Main

Xbox Series X: Everything we know
Best games coming to Xbox Series X/S
List of Xbox Series X specs
What is the Xbox Series X release date?
How much does Xbox Series X cost?
Why you can't preorder Xbox Series X yet
Best Xbox Series X Headsets

Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter: @zacbowden.

91 Comments

So it looks like Microsoft will make the first move far as pricing goes. I can only imagine Sony will try to match pricing. I think it's very smart for Microsoft to offer financing. I wish they did something similar with the Surface Duo. Also, on a side note, it seems like if they're going to close down Microsoft stores, they should've at least waited until January. With new systems and a phone coming out, it would have enjoyed pretty good foot traffic.
I would imagine AT&T and perhaps others will offer financing plans for the Duo.
Yes, Att does offer financing, but they are the only ones to my knowledge.
I've been in 2 ATT stores in the past few days, one in NJ and another in PA. Neither had the Duo and the NJ store rep had to go ask another rep what it is. Other than that, I like the new Xbox
This is all still rumors and they're going based on the possible all access pricing this is all unpause substantiated rumor until Microsoft actually makes their move they have not yet these are all rumours take it at a grain of salt
All that really matters is how Sony prices the PS5 digital... that would be the Series S' most logical competitor, but it'll be significantly more powerful. So, if it's within $50 of the Series S (i.e., $350), it would be a more compelling option of the two. But if it's $100 or more expensive than the Series S, the price advantage that Microsoft has would be pretty significant. Either way, no one can beat Game Pass... I got a 3-year subscription deal a few months back, so it's a no-brainer to stick with Xbox this gen (assuming they start showing some compelling games, soon).
They also need to somehow compete with 'Dad, I want to play new Spider-man.' Talking from first-hand experience. Price points are good though.
$500 is pricey for a console with not-so-great exclusives. All the power in the world doesn’t matter if you’re not having fun. Sony has them in that department. They have some of the best exclusives of the current gen and there’s no reason to believe that will change next gen. So as far as the Xbox is concerned...why pay 500 when I can get a sufficiently capable XBox Series S for 300 and spend the big money one the PS5 where the best games will reside?
WTF isn't having fun on Xbox? Oh, because you cant play PS exclusives your whole gaming experience is ruined? Then switch platforms buy both, problem solved.
I don't believe Sony can go THAT low for the PS5 digital version ($350). If Sony feels the XBox Series S is a major threat to the market. I'd be inclined to believe they could go $399. Market the digital version as over twice as powerful as the XBSS for only $100 more. $350 would be over $120 loss per console. I believe that Sony intended on releasing the pricing at their event on the 9th. XBox knew what their pricing was and decided to lay it all out before Sony presented. Sony saw the XBox pricing and just punked XBox. They'll announce price and release date "later". I truly believe Sony had their console priced higher than what it will eventually sell at. Sony accountants are now sharpening their pencils and figuring 10 ways to Sunday how to win the pricing game. My guess is $399 digital version and $449 for disc. Close enough to the price of the XBSS and below the XBSX for both SKU's. It will take them time to finally make up their losses, but Sony doesn't want XBox to get any solid footing to start this generation. On the other hand.....Sony's in the drivers seat. They could go $549 and $499 and likely do just as good (financially) with their following. They can afford to price it higher.
You can finance the duo through a Dell DFS account
Not a good idea to finance a phone, IMO.
WOW! I LOVE THESE PRICES! 😂🤟
The series S is a great price but the fact that you can walk out with a series X and GamePass ultimate for NO MONEY DOWN AND $35 a month is INSANE! Sony has to do something price wise now. Damn Brad breaks a incredible story and WC was like 🎯! 😂
more like walkingcat was still a bit "angry" at having his twitter account banned because of his Intel leaks and decided to be santa claus with lots of Microsoft leaks.
Xbox all access means even PS5 buyers can get a new Xbox. Now we just need third party day and date in Gamepass. That's as good as a exclusive if we get multiplats on day one in gamepass.
$500? No one could have guessed...
I am 100% sold on the Series X via All Access.
Very very good pricing. Evidently MSFT has capasity to learn from their mistakes
They could have also offered one X-Series all digital at $429.99
That would be a boatload of options pricing that could drive good sale.
This can come later down the line.
As for me, it's the Series X all the way!
I am with you on that one.
I hope it is competitive at these prices. The monthly financing option will surely help, and I think that once new gamers get a taste of Game Pass they'll be hooked. I may end up holding off on this console generation just because I need to build a new PC anyway. With Nvidia's new cards looking pretty powerful, I'm not sure if I'll need a console. I'll just connect a controller to my PC. Then with XCloud, I could play in the living room. Game Pass is the REAL product here.
I understand the need to differentiate it from the One S all digital edition so that people don't get confused but that black gill makes it look like a sub-woofer. It's ugly, not Playstation 5 ugly but it's up there. I hope that this is just a render and not the official/final look of the console. I prefer the mock-up that was released a while back that looks like an all-white Gamecube. That was cool. Other than that, the price is excellent.
I've seen many people say they love the way it looks. I'm starting to think it's subjective.
Wow, well done MS. Pretty much what I expected but the power and performance we are getting for the price is amazing. I am so hyped for the release now.
Wow. Wow. Wow. Sony just lost the generation right here. Serious. I have a feeling Sony can't compete on price. Wow!
"Sony just lost the generation right there..." Please lets not get ahead of ourselves, this IS Microsoft we are talking about. I'm sure they will find a way to chop off their own hand before release or do some other dick move like increase XBL pricing (wait, nevermind). Besides, aren't you tired yet of talking about who is "winning"?
Sony will struggle to match the 499 price. Let alone the 299 price of the lesser. Being so much more underpowered PS5 needs to be $449. They can't be weaker and similar or more priced. This is a huge headache for Sony. Huge.
Rumours of £399. So would be excellent at that.
I think X will be £449-£499.
I think the real problem Sony have is numerous reports for months have been it costs more to make the PS5 than the Series X due to insane cost of its SSD. And that controller is going to be expensive to. With silly additions like a mic. Why? I wanted MS to step there game up and compete. But I don't want Sony flagging off behind. We need competition in the game industry. After all we have Series S and Series X with 15 studios because was so good this Gen.
Don't forget, they have a discless version, which is gonna come in less than the SX.
Good news so far. Lets hope it stays that way after the console is released. Sony fanatics have had some tough pills to swallow lately.
Sony haven't lost anything. All the people that are invested in PS ecosystem will most likely remain there and vice versa for xbox. I am an xbox person myself but recently got a PC so will probably skip this console generation. I think the price will not play a big part if the two competing consoles are in the same price bracket.
Voice of reason. Rare thing on internet.
That's not how it works at all. If someone wants PS5, he will buy PS5. If you want an iPhone, are you buying different brand because it's cheaper?
Not necessarily. What is important is how many PS owners may pick up a Series S because it's so cheap. Then they realize the value of Game Pass. Then, they pick up a Series X because they want to play those games in 4k. And as a parent, how do you justify paying $400, $500, or whatever the next PS5 will be when you can pay $299 and then $15 a month for an endless supply of games. It's strange how sheltered everyone gets thinking that literally every person on earth is a forum surfing techy that wants 8k gaming with 240fps or nothing.
What you say is true, but in the belief that people have that people will switch who are already invested, that is false. I'm not sure how people believe this argument. Personally I own over a thousand dollars worth of content from the past years. There is no way I would switch to PS entirely. If I had more time to play, I would get a PS and play those too, but I can't even play the games in this ecosystem!
Be aware, that some won the most important gen, IE PS4. That is the digital content gen. That is big.
Great pricing given the tech. Not sure about the series s design, I preferred the mock up of a gamecube like model but hey ho. You dont look st the fireplace when stoking the fire, right?
I forget the answer to the question, what happens when one already has 2years of game pass stacked on their account with All Access? The system only allows for 3 years. Is the other year lost?
My question too. Went all access faq section and it wasn't clear.
Yep, and the only thing that IS clear is that it isn't a code you can wait to redeem. Its part of the hardware like the digital game bundles.
It'll tie to your account. I have paid up until 2022, so I don't wanna go silly, and lose that.
man, that machine is tiny! you can almost fit 3 of those inside the Series X and the Series X isn't that big at 6"x6"x12".
I will never understand Microsofts reluctance to promote their products heavily. Every time I turn on the TV I see PS5 spammed here in Europe. Every soccer game that's played has PS5 advertising on the field. That's millions and millions of daily watchers. I've never seen XSX. When I tell my friends I'm getting the XSX instead of PS5, they all say... Didn't that come out a few years ago? They don't even know the new one exists or is coming out, or why would anyone buy it. I feel like that's how it is in most parts of Europe, or more accurately non-US countries. Microsoft needs to make people know this console is coming and that it's great. Put it in front of people's eyeballs. This situation is just too bad... So frustrating.
And you know how do you make your console great? Games!! Buying PS5 is a sure bet, XSX not so much. It's more of a blind date.
You say that as if there are no games for the Xbox. How is it a blind date when you have gamepass and complete backwards compatibility. For anyone that didn't get an Xbox one, it's a compelling value. For existing owners, its an easy upgrade path. With all of the new Xbox 1st party teams, the games will be there. Its as sure of a bet as a PS5 considering this is all subjective.
Dude, I'm talking about exclusive games. Explain to your kid why he can't play new Spider-man on his new console. Prices are nice, but anyone who wants to buy PS5, will buy PS5. Pricing will be so close that it won't even matter probably. What I can see though, is Series S as a second console, standing next to PS5 for most people. Gamepass is a compelling deal. Even colors are the same as PS5.
Its easy, you tell their little happy ass that they can't play that game because this is what they have. If they don't like it, they can save their pennies and buy their own system .
Nah, it's easier to say 'I want to play new Spider-man too, son. We're getting PS5.' There is no need to be a cold sob to your own kid.
It's MS, they have never marketed stuff as well as they could. I agree, they need to push more. They're just too US centric in their messaging.
£249.99 UK price. I thought it'd be £250-£299. It's a cracking price.
Sony: "Why do I hear boss music?"
This is targeted towards everyone....yes the Series X is powerful but exactly what games give incentive to purchase it?
All games. Everything looks better in 4K on a good set, especially with larger screens. Hopefully with the new system we also get 60FPS standard at 4K, if not even 120.
All games minus all Sony's games. How will they compete with 'Dad, I want to play new Spider-man' this christmas?
I’m assuming that same kid knew he couldn’t play Spider-Man on the previous console, assuming he had an Xbox. It’s no different from lil Jimmy wanting time play Halo but has a PlayStation.
Great Pricing, but I wish MS would have waited out Sony. It always irked me that MS always went before Sony at E3. Sony would make adjustments to their showing based on MS's presentation. MS never was able to counter those moves. I was hoping MS would stay the course and wait for Sony to reveal the pricing and make adjustments the same as Sony has always done. Now Sony is at an advantage....again. Sony will turn it right around on MS and have another mic-drop moment. Once again, MS had an opportunity to counter, have an advantage and they caved. Granted the pricing is very competitive and Sony likely won't be far off. What if Sony counters with $449 for disk, and $399 for diskless?
Supposedly, the price was leaked by someone before Microsoft was ready to reveal it so they said "what the heck, might as well put the cards on the table"
Still didn't have to confirm it. They could of played off of it as not being official. The Series X hasn't been confirmed like the "S". I'm more concerned with pricing of it versus the PS4's. Sony can now undercut the Series X, possibly put pricing low enough on the diskless to put less value in the Series S and win in both console prices.
While I agree, this could also be a tactic to lure Sony out to reveal their prices. Phil Spencer supposedly has the authority to go as low as he wants to go on the series X price. I don't believe so he is in a position to go much lower than $500. 450 is pushing it. Honestly I think they were planning on going higher than $500, but waiting on Microsoft to go first to see if they need to adjust down. The price of the series s alone has Sony in a sticky place right now. Because they still don't even know the price of the series X. But I at this point, Microsoft really doesn't have to wait for Sony to make the next move. If by some miracle Microsoft goes $450, Sony's screwed, because it has to decide whether to match it or go lower and if they go lower they'll really be biting a financial bullet. There is no way that they would sell the PS5 for $400 and the discless version for $300. I'm expecting 500 for the series X and the PS5. For that amount of money you're getting one heck of a value either way.
I had similar thoughts as yours as the day progressed. Revealing the "S" price was the safe way to roll pricing out since Sony doesn't have a product at that price point. MS is still holding the "X" pricing back. This may be a good tactic to get Sony to divulge the PS5 pricing. If Sony believes the "X" will be $500 they could match at $500 and go $450 on digital. MS could then announce the "X" is $450. Which = Win/Win for XBOX.
I don't believe that this "leak" was a coincidence. Because Sony's event is tomorrow. Microsoft is playing a game of chess. They're waiting for Sony to make the next move on pricing. It would be funny(and wouldn't be shocking) if Sony only reveals the price of the PS5 all-digital tomorrow.. Then the ball would be back in Microsoft's hand.
Well.....Looks like we were both wrong in regards to the "X" pricing coming following Sony's price reveal. The $499 price for the "X" was confirmed on the 9th. Sony is now set to make a mic drop moment and make XBox look foolish by taking a big hit on the Digital Version just to please the fanboys and increase the hype. I see the scene already in my mind. A Sony representative walks to Podium, taps the Mic a couple times then says, "PS5 Digital.....$399". Then walks away.
Read my mind, I wanted MS to go 2nd. If Sony go at £399 for digital, MS is possibly gonna partially lose the price game.
Overall I like the design of the 'S'. Both price points seem very reasonable to me. Being a cheap ass gamer anymore, Game Pass is pretty much my go to. So this sounds right up my alley. Yes Sony has good exclusives, but honestly i've never really found myself fawning over them like many do. In fact, i've had a great time with the new GP offerings such as Battletoads and Wasteland 3. Maybe once God of War 2 is released for the PS5, i'll check one out.
I really wished the cheaper model had the disc drive, but oh well at this rate.
I wanted to play ace combat 6 on it but it looks like I have to go for the more expensive one.
Isn't Ace Combat in Game Pass?
I wish Microsoft would stop obsessing over framerates. Assuming consistent framerates without dropping frames, 99% of people could not even tell the difference between 60, 90, or 120fps. Only the most hardcore gamers playing the most fast-paced, competitive games could really tell the difference. Most of the time, those resources would be better spent on better visual quality, which I think Xbox Series S/X are going to lack compared to PS5 at this point due to this odd obsession with framerates and their lack of exclusive next gen games. It looks like PS5 will be the place to go for first party games with truly next gen graphics, which is a little disappointing, but I guess Microsoft is just running a different business now (sell subscriptions instead of consoles and games) which I get.
So you want FILMIC games is what you are saying?
I would hardly consider a 60fps game or even a lot of 30fps game is filmic, but everyone has their own opinion on framerates. I just think the vast majority of people really can’t tell the difference once you get past 60fps. I would challenge you to give yourself a blind test (not actually blind, but that you don’t know which game is which) to see if you can tell the difference between 60 and 90.
Actually filmic refers to games that are supposed to be like movies which are 24 frames a second. So 30 is closest to that. It was a joke for our Xbox Two podcast listeners.
Sorry I missed that lol
I wish that Sony supporters wouldn't run to Xbox related articles to complain about and downplay features that they somehow feel threatened by, because the corporation that they worships piece of plastic doesn't offer the same options/abilities. If you are happy with what you have, then why are you here? Here's an idea, why not buy both next-gen consoles, then either way you win. Problem solved...
Quite the contrary, I’ve been 100% on purchasing a Series X actually. I wasn’t even considering getting a PS5 until I started seeing the differences in game lineups. I’m still not sure to be honest which I’m going to get at launch right now. I’m also hardly a PlayStation “worshipper” either way. I’ve done most of my gaming lately on Xbox. I think I’m allowed to have constructive criticism of Xbox’s approach in the hopes that they do something better instead. The whole tone of your response makes it seem like you’re more upset about this than I am.
The key word is constructive, and many posts aren't. Well reasoned discussions are always good but diss posts are juvenile and meant to crap on other's excitement. It's no different than people flocking to the Duo articles to talk about the Fold 2 ... it serves no positive purpose. So, where's your constructive criticism?
I think my original post here was pretty well reasoned, but just to reiterate I think they should focus on making a step forward in graphics quality and visual fidelity instead of pushing 90 and 120fps framerates which tax the hardware and in most cases don’t deliver a noticeable benefit to the player.
So Ray Tracing isn't a significant jump in visual quality? We are approaching the point where visual jumps will be harder to see. Eventually we will have 8k gaming, but at that point it will be very hard to tell the difference.
The series x offers the highest quality graphics at 4k and higher refresh rates, plus Ray tracing , auto upgrade to her on older titles ... What more exactly do you want? But yet, you're on the fence between an Xbox and ps5 which is of lesser capabilities ? Your words don't add up.
I have looked in-depth at the specs of both consoles and to say PS5 has lesser capabilities is an oversimplification of the facts probably based on the teraflops numbers, which hardly tell the whole story. In some ways PS5 may be less capable (teraflops) and in other ways it might be more capable (ROM to RAM transfer speeds). It just seems clear that Sony is making games specifically for that hardware that are taking full advantage of the graphics capabilities (like ray tracing which it also has) at 30 or 60fps and Xbox is instead focusing on high framerates and back compat which I think is generally going to lead to more graphically advanced games on PS5.
Not upset at all. I'm just giving my own constructive criticism of your comments. As I believe Phil Spencer had said in one interview, there's only so much that can be done with graphics now. Graphics today are rapidly approaching photorealism so the next thing to focus on now is immersion. They already nailed the graphic capability with the one X so that power narrative is out of the way. To say that because they're focusing on frame rate that the graphics are going to suffer for it is an ill-informed thing to say . The new hardware is more capable because the CPU is more powerful than any other console. Usually the CPU is what holds back the rest of the hardware, but with the series X the CPU is complementing the GPU so it makes the whole hardware more capable, hence its ability to handle higher framerates, better a.i., more characters on screen, more visual effects like Ray tracing in 4k etc. It's all about immersion now because the graphic capability is already covered. (Remember, there was a demo of gears 5 running in ultra settings on the series X hardware)If you don't think you're going to be impressed with what the series X can do, then why are you considering a PS5 which is graphically less capable? You're kind of contradicting yourself
As I mentioned above, I have looked in-depth at the specs of both consoles and to say PS5 has lesser capabilities is an oversimplification of the facts probably based on the teraflops numbers, which hardly tell the whole story. In some ways PS5 may be less capable (teraflops) and in other ways it might be more capable (ROM to RAM transfer speeds). Regarding framerates, let’s just take a second to think about that. If a processor has 16 milliseconds (as in 60fps) to render a frame instead of 8 milliseconds (as in 120fps), having twice as much time to render that frame is going to result in significantly more visual fidelity, better effects, more thorough ray tracing, etc. This should be kind of obvious.
Yet gears 5 is running in 120 frames per second with no drop in graphic fidelity on both(series X/S) new consoles......... Obviously not every game is shooting for 120 frames per second. Keyword is up to 120 fps. And now it has been confirmed by Ubisoft that assassin's Creed Valhalla will be 4K 60 on series X/S. So more framerate capability doesn't actually equal less quality in graphics 😉
Correction: 4k/60 on series X
90 to 120, I hear you. 30 to 60 is a great jump.
I agree. Even then the 30 to 60 jump is only really noticeable in fast games like Forza.
Great price, but I'm still getting a PS5 because exclusives matter. I don't care about the price.
Why bother if you can play those exclusives in a PC.
Awesome price point! If only the Surface Duo followed suit...
My only quandary... Why, oh why is that fan grille black? Does anyone else see some poor handicapped person going to grab for their adaptive controller and snatch the whole freakin' Xbox off the wall???

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