It’s been a very interesting evening for Microsoft’s Xbox division. It looks like a ton of information has leaked to the internet about the upcoming release of the Xbox Series X and the badly hidden Xbox Series S.
What Happened?
Well, things started with a post from Brad Sams, someone who is notorious for leaking Xbox information just before things go official from Microsoft. Brad claimed that he had the inside information about the Xbox Series S, the smaller entry-level Xbox console of the new generation, and not only did he have the official design, but he also had the price. Coming in at US$299, while stating that the Xbox Series X would be released at a price point of US$499 or US$599, a price predicted by 99% of the gaming world.
More Information Leaked
Not too long after Brad’s leak, an article was posted to Windows Central, a site for Windows and Microsoft products. This article states that their inside sources can confirm that the Xbox Series S will retail at US$299 and the Xbox Series X will retail at US$499. The article goes on to state that both consoles will be available on the Xbox All Access plan, a payment plan option that is available from Xbox partners (I know here in Australia that phone company Telstra has the plan available for Australian customers. Not too sure about American partners at this time) for US$25 and US$35 per month for the Series S and Series X respectively.
Windows Central also gives a little more insight into the consoles, stating that the Xbox Series S is going to be as powerful as the current Xbox One X consoles which have just been phased out of production, but with a few more slight enhancements and the removal of a disc drive. For more information on the Xbox Series S, we’ll talk about it more below. It was also confirmed that both consoles would be released at the same time on November 10th, 2020.
Someone at Xbox Dun Goofed
Leaks are a funny thing, we know that this information would not have appeared on the internet without someone inside the Xbox division of Microsoft giving that information to the websites involved. Unlike other times when something big has leaked from a company and we hear reports trying to get things back under wraps or someone getting fired for the leak (Though someone probably will get fired if they find out who did it), but instead, Xbox played it cool, releasing a tweet of the “confused monkey” meme not long after the articles got traction on Twitter and started trending.
— Xbox (@Xbox) September 8, 2020
Not long after this Tweet, Xbox decided why to hide something that has been shown to the world. Xbox Tweeted out a promotional image, along with confirming the US$299 price point late in the evening while most Americans were asleep, but it hasn’t stopped Xbox Series X from trending worldwide for many hours afterward.
👀 Let’s make it official!
Xbox Series S | Next-gen performance in the ˢᵐᵃˡˡᵉˢᵗ Xbox ever. $299 (ERP).
Looking forward to sharing more! Soon. Promise. pic.twitter.com/8wIEpLPVEq
— Xbox (@Xbox) September 8, 2020
So what is the Xbox Series S?
no point holding this back now I guess pic.twitter.com/SgOAjm3BuP
— WalkingCat (@_h0x0d_) September 8, 2020
After another leak happened, showing a video about the Xbox Series S, we now know more about the internals.
XBOX SERIES S FEATURES:
- All-Digital
- 1440p at up to 120 FPS
- Custom 512 GB SSD
- DirectX Ray-Tracing
- Variable Refresh Rate
- Variable Rate Shading
- Ultra-Low Latency
- 4K Upscaling For Games
- 4K Streaming Media Playback
- 7.5GB RAM
- 4TF GPU Performance
XBOX SERIES X FEATURES:
- 13.5GB RAM
- 12TF GPU Performance
- Native 4K Streaming Media Playback
- Native 4K for Games
- 120FPS cap
- 1Tb SSD (Possible M2)
Looking at what little we can compare, yes it does look like the Xbox Series S is an underpowered version of the Series X, making it not look that attractive. However, as with the One S, there isn’t too much of a difference one you get into the games themselves. As we state a lot on the Spectator Mode Podcast, it’s not so much the hardware that makes things good, it’s the software. So don’t expect everything to be native 4K with 120fps just because you have an Xbox Series X.
And that’s it. As of writing, there have not been any more leaks or official statements about either console. But it does give us an understanding of why Xbox has waited so long to release the price points, and why the Xbox One X has ceased production. If anything else comes to light, come back to The Outerhaven where we will be covering everything about the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, the PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 5 digital all the way through release when we will have many reviews on the consoles.
