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Xbox Series X and Series S | HearLore
Xbox Series X and Series S
In the summer of 2020, a single image leaked from a Microsoft presentation that would define the visual identity of a new generation of gaming: a tall, black tower standing like a monolith in a sea of white. This was the Xbox Series X, a console designed to be unobtrusive yet powerful, featuring a custom 7 nanometer AMD system-on-chip that combined Zen 2 CPU architecture with RDNA 2 graphics. The engineering team had to solve a complex thermal puzzle to fit a processor capable of 12.155 teraflops of computational power into a chassis that was only 9.6 inches tall and 6 inches wide. They achieved this by splitting the internal components onto two separate circuit boards, one housing the CPU and GPU while the other handled input and output functions, creating air channels that allowed the system to run as quietly as its predecessor despite drawing approximately 315 watts of power. The design was so compact that it could be placed vertically or horizontally, with a large open top to ensure good airflow through the system, a decision made by principal designer Chris Kujawski who arranged the remaining components like a game of Tetris to achieve the final form factor.
Simultaneously, Microsoft was preparing a second device that would become the most controversial part of the launch strategy: the Xbox Series S. This console was designed to be 60 percent smaller by volume than the Series X, measuring just 6 inches by 6 inches by 2.4 inches, and was intended to fit inside a small bag or backpack for portability. Unlike its larger sibling, the Series S had no optical drive, meaning all games and software had to be obtained digitally via the Microsoft Store. It utilized a custom RDNA 2 GPU with only 20 compute units running at 1.55 gigahertz, delivering 4.006 teraflops of power compared to the 12.155 teraflops of the Series X. The Series S shipped with 10 gigabytes of GDDR6 SDRAM, with 8 gigabytes running at 224 gigabytes per second for graphics and 2 gigabytes at 56 gigabytes per second for other computing functions. Despite these reduced specifications, Microsoft positioned the Series S as a viable entry point for the ninth generation of video game consoles, launching at a price of 299 dollars and 99 cents, while the Series X launched at 499 dollars. The existence of the Series S had been guessed before the official announcement based on a codename known as Project Lockhart, named after the city of Lockhart, Texas, which Aaron Greenberg described as the little city with the big heart.
The Velocity Architecture And The SSD Revolution
The true revolution of the Xbox Series X and Series S was not found in the resolution or frame rates, but in the speed at which data could be moved from storage to memory. Microsoft introduced a new storage solution called the Xbox Velocity Architecture, which included hardware and software components designed to improve transfer speeds and reduce the size of digital downloads. At the heart of this system was a custom Non-Volatile Memory Express solid-state drive. The Series X included a 1 terabyte SSD with 802 gigabytes available to the user, offering a raw input and output throughput of 2.4 gigabytes per second. An on-board compression and decompression block included both the industry standard zlib algorithm and a proprietary BCPack algorithm geared for game textures, giving a combined throughput as high as 4.8 gigabytes per second. The Series S included a 512 gigabyte SSD with similar custom hardware and software specifications, though with less total capacity.
This architecture allowed developers to fine-tune priority to input and output aspects with other processing threads using a new DirectStorage API within DirectX. The software provided sampler feedback streaming that aided in loading multiple textures in segments to deal with level of detail rendering, rather than having to read these textures as a whole before using them. Developers at The Coalition found that without any changes to their code, the game Gears 5 loaded four times faster on the Xbox Series X than on the Xbox One X due to the higher throughput on memory and storage. The consoles also supported external storage through a proprietary SSD expansion card inserted into the back of the console, which was manufactured exclusively by Seagate Technology on launch and limited to a 1 terabyte size when first released. Later versions included 512 gigabyte and 2 terabyte versions, and were released at the end of 2021, while expansion cards manufactured by Western Digital were released in June 2023. The DirectStorage API was released in March 2022 for Windows-based computers with graphics cards that support DirectX 12 and NVMe SSDs, though games must be programmed to take advantage of the DirectStorage API. This technology was planned to be a built-in feature along with Auto HDR for Windows 11 at release in late 2021, as well as offered within Windows 10.
The Xbox Series X and Series S launched on the 10th of November 2020. The consoles were released in China on the 10th of June 2021.
What are the specifications of the Xbox Series X and Series S?
The Xbox Series X features a custom 7 nanometer AMD system-on-chip with 12.155 teraflops of computational power and a 1 terabyte SSD. The Xbox Series S measures 6 inches by 6 inches by 2.4 inches, includes 4.006 teraflops of power, and ships with 512 gigabytes of storage.
How much did the Xbox Series X and Series S cost at launch?
The Xbox Series X launched at 499 dollars and the Xbox Series S launched at 299 dollars and 99 cents. The Xbox Series X All-Access plan costs 19 dollars and 99 cents per month over 24 months, while the Series S plan costs 14 dollars and 99 cents per month over 14 months.
How many Xbox Series X and Series S units have been sold?
As of June 2024, the Xbox Series X and Series S have sold a combined 28.3 million units worldwide. Sales reached 12 million units by the end of 2021 and 18.5 million units by the end of 2022.
What is the Xbox Velocity Architecture?
The Xbox Velocity Architecture is a new storage solution that includes a custom Non-Volatile Memory Express solid-state drive and hardware components to improve transfer speeds. The Series X offers 2.4 gigabytes per second raw throughput and up to 4.8 gigabytes per second with compression, while the Series S includes similar custom hardware with 512 gigabytes of capacity.
What features does the Xbox Series X and Series S support?
The consoles support backward compatibility for four generations of games, Quick Resume for up to three games, and FPS Boost for select backward-compatible titles. The updated Xbox Series S launched on the 1st of September 2023 with 1 terabyte of storage, and refreshed models released on the 15th of October 2024 include Wi-Fi 6E and redesigned motherboards.
When Microsoft announced the Xbox Series X and Series S, they made a strategic decision to prioritize a soft transition between generations rather than forcing consumers to abandon their existing libraries. Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, stated that Microsoft wanted to ensure that those who had recently bought Xbox One consoles would still feel that they made a good investment and that the company was committed to them with content. This approach allowed for the creation of games that performed well on the Xbox One consoles yet took advantage of the new hardware with higher graphics throughput and faster frame rates. Microsoft offered a distribution framework known as Smart Delivery that would automatically download Xbox Series X and Series S versions of backward compatible games for the console when available. This feature was positioned at publishers who planned to release Series X or Series S specific versions of games after releasing on Xbox One and to users moving from an existing Xbox One to an Xbox Series console.
Microsoft did not bar developers from releasing games that could only be played on the new consoles, but the company preferred a soft transition more in line with PC gaming, where developers could target optimal play on higher-end hardware but still allow the game to be played with reduced fidelity on lower-end hardware. Initially, Spencer suggested that their first-party studios' games would support both Xbox One and Xbox Series X platforms for the next couple of years, but journalists observed that some of the first-party games introduced in the Xbox Game Showcase in July 2020 omitted mention of the Xbox One. This led to Aaron Greenberg, general manager of Xbox Games Marketing, to clarify that these games were being developed for the Xbox Series X first, leaving the choice of adding Xbox One support to their development studios as they went forward. By June 2023, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty stated that its in-house studios had moved on to Gen 9 and were no longer working on new games targeting Xbox One. Microsoft has not placed any similar requirements on a soft transition for third-party developers and publishers, allowing them to offer Xbox Series X exclusives or other routes to upgrade from the Xbox One edition of a game, though Video Games Chronicle reported that Microsoft had urged publishers to keep the upgrade path free if they took that option.
The Backward Compatibility Legacy
One of the most ambitious features of the Xbox Series X and Series S was the promise to support all existing games playable on the Xbox One, including Xbox 360 and original Xbox games currently supported through backward compatibility on the Xbox One, thus allowing the new consoles to support four generations of games. To achieve this level of compatibility, Microsoft announced in June 2019 that they would no longer be bringing any additional Xbox 360 or original Xbox games into the Xbox One backward compatibility program, and they would instead be using their manpower to make sure these older games were playable on the Xbox Series X. Backward compatibility was a launch feature, with Microsoft having put more than 500,000 man-hours in validating thousands of games from the supported Xbox One library. Phil Spencer said in December 2019 that he himself had been helping to test backward compatibility games. As Microsoft neared launch, they reopened the means for players to suggest additional games to add to backward compatibility, stating that resurrecting titles from history often presented a complex mix of technical and licensing challenges, but the team was committed to doing everything they could to continue to preserve their collective gaming legacy.
It was possible for advanced graphic processes options not originally programmed into these older games to be worked into the game when played on the console, such as automated high-dynamic-range rendering support using machine learning, framerate doubling, 16x anisotropic filtering, and resolution upscale. Work done by the Xbox Advanced Technology Group prior to launch was focused on how far into the backward-compatibility library they could take these improvements, including into original Xbox games, adding in features like HDR or improving the framerate of games that may have been programmed to be locked at a specific framerate. In February 2021, Microsoft introduced FPS Boost, a feature for select backward-compatible games that the company said could improve the framerate of these titles on the Xbox Series X and Series S by two to four times. This was a feature that Microsoft's engineers must prepare for each game, with five games supported initially and more to be rolled out over time. Microsoft developed FPS Boost after finding that for many backward compatible games, the CPU and GPU on the newer consoles frequently entered their idle states even with the other enhancements in place, and so they sought ways to use the unused processing cycles to further enhance the older games' performance. As of May 2021, about 97 games were updated to support FPS Boost.
The Controller And The User Interface
The Xbox Series X and Series S shipped with an updated version of the Xbox Wireless Controller intended to fit a larger range of hand sizes. They included the same key buttons as the past controllers: two analog joysticks that could be depressed, a circle pad, four action buttons, two system buttons known as View and Menu, the main Xbox home button, two grip triggers, and two shoulder buttons. The new controller added a Share button alongside the View and Menu buttons; pressing Share once took a screenshot, while holding the button began a Game DVR recording. Microsoft found that by aiming the size to fit an eight-year-old's hands, they were able to make the design fit a larger section of the population, thus featuring more sculpted grips and reduced and rounded trigger buttons. The D-pad was a new concave design that senior console designer Ryan Whitaker said was a means to merge the normal D-pad style on the standard Xbox One controller and the version on the Elite variant to accommodate a range of playstyles. Small tactile dot patterns were added to the buttons to help players orient fingers on the controls. The controller continued to use two AA batteries, though a rechargeable battery pack was available as an accessory. Microsoft found from focus group studies that players were split nearly 50/50 on the use of batteries versus recharging and thus gave the controller the option to use either.
The controller used the same wireless protocol introduced by the Xbox One and was backward compatible with existing Xbox One consoles. Existing Xbox One controllers were also compatible with Xbox Series X. The new controller also supported the Bluetooth Low Energy standard allowing it to pair with mobile devices and other hardware supporting that standard, and had internal storage to remember those connections. It used a USB-C connector for wired use and charging rather than USB Micro-B. The user interface for both consoles was similar to the Xbox One but used 40 percent less memory to improve its speed. According to the UI development team, the Home section loaded in about half the time as it did on the Xbox One. Other changes included adding rounded UI elements, a more readable font for text elements, rearrangement of certain aligned features, and improvements to the sharing functions. These changes were brought to the Xbox One system software, the Windows Xbox application, and the Xbox mobile application around September 2020. Based on system previews, about 200 gigabytes of space was reserved on the internal drive of the Xbox Series X for system files. The consoles also supported Quick Resume, which allowed users to suspend and resume up to three games at once. Games could also be resumed after a reboot of the console. The March 2022 update added the ability to pin up to two games to Quick Resume, keeping them suspended unless otherwise closed manually, or the game must be updated.
The Launch And The Mini Fridge Phenomenon
Both the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles launched on the 10th of November 2020, with the Series X priced at 499 dollars and the Series S priced at 299 dollars. In China, the systems would release on the 10th of June 2021. Microsoft affirmed that 31 games would be available at launch, including those from its Xbox Game Studios and from other third-party publishers, in addition to those from its Xbox One backward compatibility. While Halo Infinite had been planned as a launch title when the Series X console was first revealed, Microsoft and 343 Industries opted to delay its release until after the console's launch due to production issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon reveal of the Xbox Series X's vertical form factor, a popular Internet meme compared the design to a mini refrigerator. In the lead-up to the console's release, Microsoft manufactured a limited number of refrigerators modeled after the Xbox Series X exterior, complete with a disk drive handle, green interior ambient lighting, and the Xbox startup sound. Some were distributed to celebrities like Snoop Dogg and iJustine, and others were offered as part of promotional contests. In March 2021, in collaboration with Microsoft, Dwayne Johnson offered smaller mini-fridges modeled off the Xbox Series X to promote his line of Zoa Energy drinks. Microsoft's Greenberg stated that this was a trial run to see if the Xbox mini-fridge would have potential sales options beyond this promotion. After followers of the official Xbox Twitter account helped the brand to win in a Twitter marketing vote-based championship in April 2021, Greenberg affirmed that Microsoft would proceed with producing Xbox Series X mini-fridges for purchase. Microsoft announced during E3 2021 that these mini fridges would be available to purchase by end-of-year holiday period in 2021. Microsoft opened pre-orders for the mini-fridge in October 2021, with plans for distribution in December 2021 in North America and European markets.
Microsoft will continue its Xbox All-Access financing plans, which bundle the hardware, Xbox Live Gold, and Xbox Game Pass as part of a monthly payment plan, for the Series X. Current All Access plans with the Xbox One will include routes to upgrade to the Xbox Series X, and Spencer states that there will be similar upgrades from the Xbox Series X in the future. The All-Access option for the Xbox Series X option will be based on a 24-month plan at 19 dollars and 99 cents per month, while the Series S will be based on a 14 dollars and 99 cents per month plan. The record for the biggest Xbox console launch was held by the Xbox One, which sold more than one million units at launch, but the Series X and S sold more consoles in more countries in their first 24 hours than any previous Xbox. The Series S has attracted a higher percentage of new Xbox players than any previous Microsoft consoles. Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, would affirm in an earnings call on the 27th of July 2021, that the Series X and S consoles were the fastest-selling Xbox consoles ever.
The Shortages And The Sales Race
The 2020 to 2023 global chip shortage prevented Microsoft from producing enough Xbox consoles to meet demand. Upon launch, both models almost immediately sold out across all retailers and in all markets. This led to scalping on Internet marketplace sites, with consoles going for as high as 1,000 dollars. Phil Spencer said that they had gotten a later start on manufacturing the console in mid-2020 as they were waiting for key AMD chip technology, and they had reached full production capacity by launch but were still rushing to meet sales demand, as well as having made projections on proportions of Series X versus Series S sales. In November 2020, Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart said shortages were likely to end in the second quarter of 2021. Starting in May 2021, Microsoft allowed members of the Xbox Insiders program to sign up for a priority list to purchase an Xbox Series X or Series S directly from Microsoft, though only a limited number of units were offered through this program. Although Microsoft was unable to produce enough units to satisfy demand during 2021, the revenue from consoles increased because the consoles had higher prices.
Daniel Ahmed, a Niko Partners analyst, has provided estimates for the worldwide sell-through of the Xbox Series X and S. The combined worldwide sales of the Xbox Series X and Series S would have reached 3.5 million by the 31st of December 2020. Sales would increase to 6.5 million by the 30th of June 2021, outpacing the 5.7 million units sold of the Xbox One and the 5 million units of the Xbox 360 in the same timeframe. Sales worldwide are estimated to have reached 8 million by the 30th of September 2021, and 12 million units by the end of 2021. At the end of 2022, it was estimated by Ampere Analysis that sales had reached 18.5 million. In June 2023, during an ID@Xbox presentation in Brazil, Microsoft revealed that Xbox Series X and Series S had sold over 21 million units to date, which is lagging behind its rival PS5 with 40 million units sold as of July 2023. During the hearing of Activision Blizzard Acquisition on the 22nd of June 2023, Microsoft admitted that they lost the console wars and that Xbox's console has consistently ranked third of three behind PlayStation and Nintendo in sales. In 2021, Xbox had a market share of 16 percent, and likewise for console revenues and share of consoles currently in use by gamers, Xbox trails with 21 percent. As of June 2024, the Xbox Series X and Series S have sold a combined 28.3 million units worldwide.
The Series S Performance And The Future
Microsoft has urged developers to develop games to release on both the Series X and Series S with feature-to-feature parity, despite the latter's limitations. In March 2023, Remedy, the developer of the game Control, said that the system with the lowest specs, the Xbox Series S, dictates the features used because games have to be able to run on the hardware and that optimization is nowhere near as simple as lowering resolution and texture quality. Phil Spencer said that split-screen co-op is one area that certain games, such as Forza, cannot be used as the Series S, and thus has limited their own first-party releases. Spencer said in January 2025 that the requirement to support the Series S is not likely to be removed, as by targeting the Series S, games likely can also be ported to other lower power systems such as the Steam Deck or ROG Ally. Larian Studios, the developers of Baldur's Gate 3, did not officially announce an Xbox Series X and S version due to technical issues relating to split-screen co-op on the Xbox Series S. This led to a rumor that the game was a PlayStation console exclusive. Larian Studios denied the console exclusivity and said that Baldur's Gate 3 might get released on Xbox should the problems get fixed. Larian discussed the matter with Spencer, and in August 2023, the studio said it would release Baldur's Gate 3 for the Xbox Series X and Series S without the split-screen co-op feature. By January 2025, Larian released a patch that enabled split-screen for Series S users.
An updated Xbox Series S with a matte black finish and 1 terabyte of storage launched on the 1st of September 2023, the internal design remaining otherwise unchanged. Unrelated court documents from the 2022 court case FTC versus Microsoft included plans for refreshed mid-generation consoles planned to be released in 2024. The updated Xbox Series X, codenamed Brooklin, would feature a cylindrical design that drops the optical drive, draws less power, increases internal storage to 2 terabytes, and improves wireless connectivity with Wi-Fi 6E. The updated Xbox Series S, codenamed Ellewood, would retain the same design as the current Series S, reducing power consumption and adding Wi-Fi 6E and 1 terabyte of internal storage. Both console refreshes were planned to ship with a new Xbox controller, codenamed Sebile. The new controller would be named the Xbox Universal Controller and would include a rechargeable, swappable battery. Microsoft released refreshed versions of both consoles on the 15th of October 2024, which included a 1 terabyte Xbox Series S in a white finish, an Xbox Series X in white without the optical drive, and the 2 terabyte Xbox Series X Galaxy Black Special Edition. The new Series X models use a redesigned motherboard with a smaller system-on-chip, and replace its vapor chamber cooling mechanism with copper heat pipes. The new models were reported to have slightly reduced power consumption. During Gamescom 2023, Spencer stated that Microsoft was unlikely to produce a mid-generation revision of either the Series X or Series S, as it would likely cause issues with specifications for games between the first such units and mid-generation ones. Instead, he said that when they do hardware, it should have a reason to exist that is demonstrably different than what came before, and that likely their next hardware would be for the future tenth generation of consoles.