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As widely rumored, Microsoft has unveiled an exclusively digital Xbox Series X console — along with two other takes on existing models.
The Xbox Series X 1TB Digital Edition is billed as a way to get the full performance of Microsoft’s console without a Blu-ray disc drive you won’t necessarily use. It will be available in a white hue this holiday for $450 (€500) in “select markets.”
Particularly demanding gamers will also have the option of an Xbox Series X in a 2TB Galaxy Black Special Edition. The doubled storage will help if you want to keep more games on hand, of course, and the starfield-like mix of black, gray, green, and silver adds a little extra flair to the otherwise monochromatic box. A limited supply of the 2TB console will be available in some regions this holiday for $600 (€650).
The Xbox Series S is also getting a purely cosmetic update. The 1TB model will now be available in white, not in black. It’ll sell for a familiar $350 (€350) during the holidays. Last year’s black version will still be available, but only while stock remains.
The news came as part of a larger Xbox Games Showcase that took the wraps off of Call of Duty Black Ops 6, the prequel Gears of War: E-Day, and Doom: The Dark Ages, and showed first footage from games like the long-expected Perfect Dark reboot.
The digital Xbox Series X is widely considered overdue. Sony undercut Microsoft in 2020 when the PlayStation 5 launched with a $399 discless model — the Xbox Series X was only available in a $499 disc-equipped version. That made the choice simple for players who weren’t attached to physical game copies.
Whether or not it comes in time is another matter. Xbox hardware sales are down in light of fierce competition from Sony and Nintendo, and a slightly more affordable Series X won’t necessarily change this four years later. The opportunity might have been lost, in other words. The 2TB version’s high price might also make it a tough sell beyond either Xbox loyalists or gamers new to this generation who want the most built-in storage possible.
Microsoft is partly banking on the availability of Black Ops 6 as a Game Pass launch day title to draw people in. In theory, newcomers who want a console to play the latest Call of Duty will buy the digital Xbox Series X knowing they can get it alongside hundreds of other Game Pass releases for a relatively modest subscription fee.
