Xbox Series X and Series S

* Series X
* Series S

The **Xbox Series X** and **Series S** is a line of home video game consoles released by Microsoft and is the successor to the Xbox One line. It was released in November 2020 as part of the ninth generation of consoles, competing against Sony's PlayStation 5 and Nintendo's Switch.

Currently no new *Mitchell* games have been announced for the system, but all of the games playable on the Xbox One are playable on the new consoles.

## History

### Initial unveiling and launch

Industry rumors of new Xbox hardware had started as early as June 2018, with Microsoft's Phil Spencer confirming they were "deep into architecturing the next Xbox consoles" at that time. The hardware was believed to be a family of devices under the codename "Scarlett", including a low-cost version, with major emphasis on game streaming and backward compatibility. By March 2019, further industry rumors had led to speculation of two consoles under the Scarlett family under codenames "Anaconda" and the low-cost "Lockhart" version.

Microsoft confirmed **Project Scarlett** at its E3 2019 press conference. Microsoft said they wanted a "soft" transition from Xbox One to Scarlett, with Scarlett supporting backward compatibility with all games and most hardware supported on the Xbox One. During a presentation at The Game Awards 2019, Microsoft officially revealed the design of Scarlett and its branding, "Xbox Series X", as well as a late-2020 release date. Following the event, a Microsoft spokesperson stated that Xbox Series X constituted an entry in a fourth generation of Xbox hardware, which will be branded simply as "Xbox" with no subtitle.

Microsoft planned to go into detail into the hardware specifications and launch games for the Series X at both the 2020 Game Developers Conference (GDC) and E3 2020, but both events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Microsoft scheduled online presentations over the same planned days in March 2020, while the company will schedule its planned E3 presentation at a later time. Detailed specifications were presented by Microsoft, Digital Foundry and Austin Evans of Overclock Media on March 16, 2020. Starting in May and running until launch, Microsoft planned to have additional digital events around the Xbox Series X and its games as part of an "Xbox 20/20" series. This included an Xbox Games Showcase on July 23, 2020, featuring games principally from its first-party Xbox Game Studios.

On July 16, 2020, Microsoft announced that it had ended production of the Xbox One X and all-digital version of the Xbox One S in preparation for the new products.

The existence of the Xbox Series S had been speculated prior to the E3 2019 reveal based on a "Project Lockhart" that accompanied Scarlett, a second lower-end console. Confirmation of the Xbox Series S naming was affirmed through early Xbox hardware accessories that some had been able to purchase. Microsoft officially announced the Series S console on September 8, 2020, revealing that it would also be released alongside the Series X in November 2020. Microsoft pointed out that the Series S had been discretely placed in the background of previous Xbox announcement videos featuring Phil Spencer during July 2020.

## Backwards compatibility

The consoles support all *Mitchell* games playable on the Xbox One, which also includes all of its backwards compatible *Mitchell* games. All of the games are able to perform better on Series X and Series S than on their predecessors.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Spencer, Phil (16 July 2020). You Are the Future of Gaming. Xbox Wire. Archived from the original on 14 November 2020. Retrieved on 15 November 2020. “It’s our intent for all Xbox One games that do not require Kinect to play on Xbox Series X at the launch of the console. And because of the unprecedented power of Xbox Series X, most of your favorite games will load faster and look and perform many times better on the new console.”
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Warren, Tom (June 12, 2018). Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox reportedly arriving in 2020. *The Verge*. Retrieved on September 11, 2020.
3. ↑ Warren, Tom (July 24, 2018). Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox will focus on ‘XCloud’ game streaming. *The Verge*. Retrieved on September 11, 2020.
4. ↑ McLeand, Kirk (February 22, 2019). Rumour: next-gen Xbox ‘Lockhart’ and ‘Anaconda’ to be revealed at E3, released 2020. *VG247*. Retrieved on September 11, 2020.
5. ↑ Warren, Tom (June 8, 2019). Microsoft hints at next-generation Xbox 'Scarlet' in E3 teasers.
6. ↑ Greenwald, Will. Microsoft Teases Xbox Project Scarlett, Tons of Games, Keanu (en).
7. ↑ Xbox Series X Exclusive Details: Meet Microsoft's Next-Gen Console (en-US).
8. ↑ Warren, Tom (December 12, 2019). Microsoft's next Xbox is Xbox Series X, coming holiday 2020. Retrieved on December 12, 2019.
9. ↑ Gilliam, Ryan (December 16, 2019). The next generation of Xbox is just called ... Xbox (en).
10. ↑ Carpenter, Nicole (March 10, 2020). New Xbox Series X details coming next week. *Polygon*. Retrieved on March 10, 2020.
11. ↑ March 2020, Vic Hood 12. What E3 2020's cancellation means for PS5 and Xbox Series X (en).
12. ↑ Tuttle, Will (March 16, 2020). Xbox Series X: A Closer Look at the Technology Powering the Next Generation. *Xbox Wire*. Microsoft. Retrieved on March 16, 2020.
13. ↑ Leadbetter, Richard (March 16, 2020). Inside Xbox Series X: the full specs. *Eurogamer*. Retrieved on March 16, 2020.
14. ↑ Leadbetter, Richard (March 16, 2020). Xbox Series X: just how big is it - and how does it compare to Xbox One X?. *Eurogamer*. Retrieved on March 16, 2020.
15. ↑ Skrebels, Joe (May 5, 2020). Xbox 20/20 Announced: Monthly Updates on Series X, New Games and More. *IGN*. Retrieved on May 5, 2020.
16. ↑ Purslow, Matt (July 23, 2020). Xbox Games Showcase: Everything Announced at the Show. *IGN*. Retrieved on July 23, 2020.
17. ↑ Warren, Tom (July 16, 2020). Microsoft discontinues Xbox One X and Xbox One S digital edition ahead of Series X launch (en).
18. ↑ Warren, Tom (June 21, 2019). Microsoft is only launching one next-generation Xbox, not two (en).
19. ↑ Warren, Tom (December 4, 2019). Microsoft planning second next-gen Xbox that's cheaper and less powerful (en).
20. ↑ Warren, Tom (June 26, 2020). Leaked Microsoft document hints at second next-gen Xbox. *The Verge*. Retrieved on August 9, 2020.
21. ↑ Warren, Tom (August 9, 2020). Microsoft’s new Xbox Series S console confirmed in leaked controller packaging. *The Verge*. Retrieved on August 9, 2020.
22. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `wincentral series s`
23. ↑ Winslow, Jeremy (September 11, 2020). Xbox Series S Is So Small, Phil Spencer Had It In His Background And We All Missed It. *GameSpot*. Retrieved on September 11, 2020.

## External links

* Xbox Series X and Series S at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 **Video game consoles**