After months of waiting, Microsoft finally revealed the price for the Xbox Series X today via Twitter and blog post (opens in new tab). Let’s not beat around the bush -- the Xbox Series X is $499. That’s $200 more expensive than the Xbox Series S, which Microsoft revealed yesterday. It’s also the same as the Xbox One’s price at launch, and only $100 more expensive than the original Xbox 360’s launch price.
This is the tweet...Xbox Series X: $499 (ERP)Xbox Series S: $299 (ERP)Release date: November 10Pre-order starts September 22: https://t.co/Dz5bRsAuwQ | #PowerYourDreams pic.twitter.com/MadZl4OOKJSeptember 9, 2020
For that $500, you’ll get a 12 Teraflop RDNA 2 GPU, a custom Zen 2 APU, a 1TB NVMe SSD, and 16GB of GDDR6 memory. Microsoft’s aiming to push those specs towards 4K @ 60 fps gaming, 8K @ 60 fps gaming, 120 fps gaming and ray-tracing. It’s also developing the “Microsoft velocity architecture,” which will use the console’s SSD to allow users to suspend multiple games at once, on top of achieving faster load times.
Microsoft and Sony have been in what has seemed like a game of chicken for the past few months, with neither company wanting to be the first to drop a price. But Microsoft taking the initiative over its competitors isn’t necessarily new -- the Xbox 360 came out nearly a year before the PS3. Still, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a PS5 price drop soon.
$500 is certainly a hefty chunk of change, but seeing how much the Series X improves on the Xbox One, it’s impressive that you’ll be able to snag one for the same price. There will also be an installment plan available starting at $34.99 a month for 24 months, though be aware that this will eventually add up to $839.76.
As for the launch date, Xbox also announced in the price reveal that you can get your hands on an Xbox Series X (or Series S) starting on November 10th, giving us a solid date over the previous "November" promise. If that's not soon enough for you, pre-orders for the Xbox Series X/S begin on September 22nd.