Microsoft's two next-gen Xbox consoles launch Nov. 10, pre-orders open Sept. 22
Hey! A next-gen video game console actually has a price and release date!
Microsoft broke what's been a summer-long stand-off with Sony one day after Labor Day, revealing the widely rumored Xbox Series S for the first time and confirming that it'll be out on Nov. 10 for $299. In a subsequent move on Wednesday, the company also confirmed that the higher-powered Series X console will cost $499 when it arrives on the same day.
Pre-orders for both consoles open on Sept. 22, so mark your calendar if you hope to get one on launch day.
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An accompanying tweet and trailer from Tuesday reveals a few more facts about the Series S. It will benefit from ray tracing, a key graphics upgrade for the new generation of hardware, and support resolutions of up to 1440p (and 4K upscaling) with the ability to crank out higher frames-per-second on displays that support it. There's no disc drive but you do get 512GB solid state drive which allows for faster load times in games.
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The news that a Series S reveal was imminent first broke on Sunday, with Microsoft teasing a reveal soon after that news started to circulate. Confirmation of the Series X price and timing came a day later, though the console had been revealed in detail earlier in 2020.
You can see our original report on the leak and Microsoft's confirmation below.
The first images of the upcoming Xbox Series S have reportedly leaked, and it looks like a tabletop grill stood on its end.
The apparent Xbox Series S promotional image was shared by Thurrott's Brad Sams on Monday. The image shows a compact white console alongside a white Xbox controller, with one visible USB port and no apparent disc drive. However, the most eye-catching feature of the purported Xbox Series S is the large, circular black vent taking up an enormous amount of real estate on its side.
According to the picture, the Xbox Series S will allegedly retail for $299 in the U.S. — a competitive price point, though exactly how competitive will depend upon what's inside it. Windows Central's sources have also confirmed this price.
It's a curious decision to make the Xbox Series S' sizable vent black instead of white to match the rest of the console. Like previous Xbox consoles, it seems the Series S will operate either stood up or laid flat. Lay this console flat, and it looks like you could cook yourself up a nice hotpot. Stand it up, and it looks like you're ordering at a drive-through.
Known leaker Walking Cat also shared a four-second animated clip of the alleged Xbox Series S, which appears to have come from a promotional video. The video shows a top view of the console, which also has a vent, and demonstrates that the Xbox Series S is compact enough it could fit inside an Xbox Series X.
There's no new information about what differences between the consoles enable Microsoft to make one so much smaller than the other, but hopefully it won't be long before we find out.
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The Xbox Series S' beefier sibling the Xbox Series X is currently slated to arrive for the holidays, with the Series S likely not too far behind.
Mashable has reached out to Xbox for comment, but so far the closest thing to an official confirmation or denial is this cryptic tweet.
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UPDATE: Sept. 8, 2020, 8:26 a.m. BST Xbox has now confirmed the design of the Series S (which is the smallest Xbox ever) on its official Twitter feed.
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With additional reporting by Adam Rosenberg.
