We might now know the launch date for the Xbox Series X
Update: In addition to Microsoft seemingly reconfirming that the next-generation Xbox is still on track for November (and, hopefully, not delayed like Halo Infinite), we might have a better idea of when in November that launch will take place.
As we wrote about yesterday, at least a few of the new Xbox controllers have now been spotted in the wild. According to The Verge’s Tom Warren, he was sent a photo of the packing box the controllers come in, which has a very clear “Do not sell or display before November 6th, 2020” sticker on them.
Now, there have been times in the past when accessories have launched earlier than the hardware they’re meant to support, but they typically aren’t that far ahead of the full launch date.
If the photo is true, and if Microsoft isn’t planning that sort of easy release for the controller, then we might be seeing the Xbox Series X (and its lower-priced and lower-powered sibling Xbox Series S) during the first week of November.
Original story: Microsoft has confirmed that the Xbox Series X will be in people’s hands this November.
In a post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft narrowed down the release window and mentioned that there “will be thousands of games to play, spanning four generations, when Xbox Series X launches.” Players can expect more than 50 new games this year across Xbox Series and Xbox One, as well as more than 40 titles upgraded for the next-generation console.
As mentioned above, players will be able to play titles from Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on Xbox Series X with increased resolutions, HDR, and increased frame rates.
“Our back compat team continues to develop new innovations that can be applied to a curated list of titles that will enhance them even further than was possible when they were originally created,” Microsoft said. “These optimizations include the ability to render titles with increased resolutions up to 4K, delivering new HDR reconstruction techniques to games that were developed years before HDR came into existence, applying anisotropic filtering to improve image quality, and creating ways to increase or double the frame rate of certain titles.”
Microsoft’s next-generation console supports resolutions of up to 8K, frame rates of up to 120 FPS, raytracing, and improved loading times thanks to its SSD. It also features Quick Resume, which allows players to quickly suspend and resume a number of titles even if the console is turned off.
