Today, Xbox confirmed that its next generation of gaming begins on November 10, when both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles become globally available. Preorders open from 22nd September.
Let’s not beat around the bush, here’s the important bits first:
Pricing for both next-generation Xbox consoles is as follows:
£249.99 (ERP) for Xbox Series S
£449.99 (ERP) for Xbox Series X.
That’s amazing news, and it puts the new Series X console bang on the price-point the majority of people said they would be happy to pay. When you throw in the Series S for just £249, Xbox has a solid offering for the next gen.
Now the big question remains, what will Sony do? They can try to undercut Microsoft, but they’ll have to eat a significant loss in revenue and probably end up losing money on each console. Even if they match the price, it’s surely less than Sony hoped to sell the PS5, with a bill of parts rumoured to be in excess of £450 already.
EA Play Coming to Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass for PC
In additional news, Xbox also revealed its partnership with Electronic Arts, bringing EA Play to Game Pass Ultimate for no extra cost – The best subscription service just got even better! EA have also announced that a selection of their titles will also be playable through xCloud (which launches into open beta on the 15th September).
Mike Blank, SVP, EA Strategic Growth:
“Delivering EA Play to Xbox Game Pass members contributes to our vision of connecting players to the games they love and each other, wherever they want to play,” said Mike Blank, SVP, EA Strategic Growth. “After 5 years of delivering subscription services to the Xbox community, we are excited to make it easier for them to enjoy both memberships together.”
Xbox All Access
The Xbox all-access program is continuing for the next-gen of consoles and will be shipping with 24 months of Game Pass Ultimate, along with your choice of Xbox Series X or Series S. Pricing starts from £20.99 which we assume is for the Series S, with more information expected soon.
“Whether gamers are looking for top-of-the-line console gaming, prefer to experience the next generation in a smaller all-digital console at a lower price point, or even prefer to pay monthly for their gaming with no upfront cost, today’s news provides a look at how gamers can choose to join the next generation of gaming with Xbox.”
I don’t know about you, but my pre-order is going in first thing on September 22nd!
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!