Xbox Series X: all the news about Microsoft’s next-gen game console – The Verge

Xbox Series X and S preorders have kicked off around the world

2020-09-21T14:41:38-04:00

Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Series S consoles will be available for preorder around the world on September 22nd - and depending on where you live, that's happening very soon. If you're reading this in New Zealand, you'll be able to place an order in just under two hours, with the wait being just a bit longer for those in Australia. By the time those on the US East Coast wake up, gamers in the UK and Europe will have already put money down on a new console. Those preorders start at 8AM BST (3AM ET) and 9AM, respectively.

Since we originally wrote this post, Microsoft expanded the list to include those details for many other countries as we …

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When I don’t buy the new Xbox, Microsoft will laugh all the way to the bank

2020-08-12T08:54:56-04:00

Microsoft has thoroughly convinced me: I don't need to buy an Xbox Series X. The games don't look "next-gen" enough. There aren't enough titles I actually want to play. Yesterday, the company announced its flagship game, Halo Infinite, won't even arrive until 2021. Besides, almost all of Microsoft's key games are also coming to Windows PCs, and some may even come to the PS5 as well. And while I have a sneaking suspicion that Microsoft is breaking a big promise by not bringing some Xbox Series X games to the Xbox One, another possibility is many of the biggest reasons to buy a new Xbox won't be available until long after its November launch.

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Microsoft has a big year of hardware for 2020

2019-12-16T09:39:44-05:00

Microsoft's surprise unveiling of its next Xbox Series X console last week underscores the company's big hardware ambitions for 2020 and beyond. The Xbox Series X will debut during holiday 2020 alongside Microsoft's already-announced Surface Duo and Surface Neo dual-screen devices and potentially even more holiday hardware.

Bizarrely, we're heading into the new year already knowing most of Microsoft's big hardware releases, but there's bound to be even more. The Surface Book and Surface Go line of devices are both overdue refreshes, and there are rumors of Surface webcams and a modular Surface Studio. Here's what to expect from Microsoft's …

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The Xbox One Series X: bad name, good design

2019-12-13T07:00:00-05:00

Microsoft dropped a surprise last night - we got our first look at the upcoming Xbox and learned its name: Microsoft's next Xbox is Xbox Series X, coming holiday 2020. I'm not sold on the name, but I think I am sold on the shape: instead of a VCR-like traditional console, it's a square tower. You can use the new Xbox Series X horizontally, thankfully, so there is a better chance you'll be able to fit it inside whatever home entertainment console you have.

I like this shape because it has more class than the last few Xboxes. The original Xbox One was a design disaster, and the subsequent iterations got better but still felt off. This design …

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The Xbox Series X is basically a PC

2019-12-13T06:36:23-05:00

For a long time now, Microsoft has been going out of its way to downplay the "box" part of "Xbox." Whether it's pledging to bring all of its first-party titles to PC, releasing some of them to platforms like Steam and the Nintendo Switch, launching its Game Pass service for Windows, or pushing xCloud streaming, the message has been clear: you don't have to buy an Xbox to play Xbox games.

"The business isn't how many consoles you sell," Xbox chief Phil Spencer told The Verge earlier this year.

But obviously, Microsoft still plans to make Xboxes. The question, then, is this: why would anyone buy one? What is the relevance of dedicated Xbox h …

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Yes, you can use the new Xbox Series X horizontally

2019-12-12T21:51:06-05:00

The Xbox Series X is Microsoft's newly revealed next-gen console with a unique, PC-inspired vertical design that has already had many questioning how on earth they're going to fit it into their TV stand. But don't worry: according to Xbox head Phil Spencer, Microsoft "designed Xbox Series X to support both vertical and horizontal orientation."

Based on the orientation of the Xbox button on the Xbox Series X, it's clear that Microsoft intends for the console to be stood up vertically, much in the same way that the current Xbox One consoles were designed to lay flat.

Microsoft also hasn't released a picture of what the Xbox Series X will loo …

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Microsoft’s next Xbox is Xbox Series X, coming holiday 2020

2019-12-12T21:14:10-05:00

Microsoft's next-generation Xbox is officially called Xbox Series X. Microsoft revealed the name and console design on stage at the Game Awards today. The console itself looks far more like a PC than we've seen from previous Xbox consoles, and Microsoft's trailer provides a brief glimpse at the new design.

The console itself is designed to be used in both vertical and horizontal orientations, and Microsoft's Xbox chief, Phil Spencer, promises that it will "deliver four times the processing power of Xbox One X in the most quiet and efficient way."

Microsoft used the Xbox Series X to showcase Hellblade 2, a new game from Ninja Theory that is …

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Microsoft planning second next-gen Xbox that’s cheaper and less powerful

2019-12-04T12:41:43-05:00

Microsoft is currently planning to launch two next-generation Xbox consoles for holiday 2020. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans tell The Verge that Microsoft is planning a second, cheaper and less powerful Xbox console, codenamed "Lockhart." While Microsoft has revealed its Xbox Project Scarlett high-end plans, the company did not mention its two-console strategy at E3 earlier this year. Windows Central originally reported Lockhart's existence nearly a year ago, and Kotaku now reports it's part of Microsoft's next-gen plans.

Microsoft is essentially launching two next-gen consoles that will serve as successors to the Xbox One S and Xb …

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Xbox chief says Project Scarlett ‘will not be out of position on power or price’

2019-11-14T16:34:32-05:00

Microsoft isn't going to repeat its mistakes from the Xbox One with its next-generation Xbox console. "I would say a learning from the Xbox One generation is we will not be out of position on power or price," says Phil Spencer, Microsoft's Xbox and gaming chief, in an interview with The Verge. "If you remember the beginning of this generation we were a hundred dollars more expensive and yes, we were less powerful. And we started Project Scarlett with this leadership team in place with a goal of having market success."

That market success will be key for Xbox, after years of falling behind PlayStation sales and questions over its games lineu …

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What should Microsoft call the next Xbox?

2019-10-08T11:19:29-04:00

The next phase of the unending console wars is starting to heat up, with Sony announcing that the successor to the PlayStation 4 will, predictably, be called the PlayStation 5.

But the news got us wondering: what will Microsoft call its next-generation Xbox console, which is currently using codename "Project Scarlett"? Unlike Sony, which tends to stick to strictly utilitarian names for its consoles - PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, with a few self-explanatory "Slim" or "Pro" variants thrown in - Microsoft has tended toward what we'll call… creative branding.

There's no obvious pattern here

There's no …

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