Microsoft confirms $499 Xbox Series X arrives November 10, pre-orders begin September 22
The flagship Xbox Series X is arriving on November 10, and will carry a retail price tag of $499, Microsoft confirmed on Wednesday. The console will also be available for pre-orders beginning on September 22. Alongside the Xbox Series X console, Microsoft is also going to be selling a less powerful, but still next-gen, Xbox Series S console, which will have a $299 price tag, and also release on November 10 with pre-orders on September 22.
The Xbox Series X is Microsoft's higher-end successor to the Xbox One, and it includes a range of very impressive hardware specs including an 8-core custom CPU, 16GB of RAM, a GPU with 12 teraflops of processing power, a 1 TB NVMe SSD for super fast load and transfer speeds, and support for up to 4K resolution at both 60 and 120 FPS. The Series S is its lower-powered sibling, taking out the physical disc drive and offering lower specs including support for only up to 1440p resolution at 60fps, along with a smaller 512GB NVMe SSD. The Series S will use the same CPU as the Series X, however. Microsoft is clearly hoping to appeal to both budget and premium gamers with its new generation of consoles.
Earlier this week, the official teaser image and trailer for the Xbox Series S leaked, along with pricing information. Microsoft subsequently confirmed those details and released a launch trailer for the less powerful, and very compact console, but we didn't know for sure whether the Xbox Series X would share the same launch day until today's confirmation. Also, the $499 price tag of the more premium hardware was revealed for the first time today.
Image Credits: Microsoft
The Xbox Series X will also be available through Microsoft's Xbox All Access subscription, at a price of $34.99 per month, over a two-year period. The Series S will also be available on an instalment payment basis, at $24.99 per month per the same 24-month span. Those subscriptions also include Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, providing access to Microsoft's library of subscription games during the term of your hardware payments.