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Microsoft

Platform(s): PC, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
Genre: Hardware
Developer: Microsoft
Release Date: Nov. 10, 2020

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Xbox Series X|S Will Launch With 30 Fully Optimized Titles

by Rainier on Oct. 15, 2020 @ 9:28 a.m. PDT

Xbox Series X is Microsoft's fastest, most powerful console ever and set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility, allowing you to bring your gaming legacy, thousands of games from three generations and more forward with you.

For eighteen years and three console generations, the Xbox community has shown us the power both games and fun can have on all of us. As we enter a new generation of gaming, we see a future where you’re instantly absorbed in your games – where worlds are even more lifelike, immersive, responsive and surprising – and where you are at the center of your gaming experience. With the new Xbox Series X, we will realize that vision. 

Xbox Series X will be our fastest, most powerful console ever and set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility, allowing you to bring your gaming legacy, thousands of games from three generations and more forward with you. Its industrial design enables us to deliver four times the processing power of Xbox One X in the most quiet and efficient way, something that is critically important in delivering truly immersive gameplay. We also designed Xbox Series X to support both vertical and horizontal orientation. It’s bold and unique, very much like our fans around the world and the team of collaborators and innovators who built it.

Alongside Xbox Series X, Microsoft also unveiled the new Xbox Wireless Controller. Its size and shape have been refined to accommodate an even wider range of people, and it also features a new Share button to make capturing screenshots and game clips simple and an advanced d-pad derived from the Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller. The new Xbox Wireless Controller will be compatible with Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, and will be included with every Xbox Series X.

Games today deliver amazing visuals and tell an array of different and deep stories.  That’s why, when we started work on Xbox Series X, it was vital we continue to advance state-of-the-art visual capabilities for developers, while also ensuring they could realize even greater feeling, emotion and empathy in their games. With Xbox Series X, we will elevate the way games look, play and feel. We will also remove the technical barriers faced in previous generations and enable developers to create more expansive, immersive gaming worlds that invite more players to play. 

To complement Xbox Series X and invite more players into the next generation sooner, we built Xbox Series S—an all-digital, next-gen console designed to deliver everything that is core to next-generation gaming – faster load times, higher frame rates, and richer, more dynamic worlds – in our smallest, sleekest Xbox ever. Developing two consoles in parallel from the beginning enables us to deliver the most powerful console ever in Xbox Series X and make next-gen gaming available and affordable to more players on day one with Xbox Series S.

Empowering you with freedom and choice is core to everything we do at Xbox. In addition to the traditional option of purchasing the new generation of Xbox Series X and S at $499 (Estimated Retail Price) and $299 (Estimated Retail Price) respectively, we’re expanding our Xbox All Access program to 12 countries this holiday, with more to come in 2021.

When you power on your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S on November 10, you will be greeted by the largest launch lineup in Xbox history. Games like Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Watch Dogs: Legion, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Gears Tactics, and Tetris Effect: Connected will be some of the much-anticipated next-gen games you can play on day one. The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will launch with 30 new games playable day one, 20 of them with Smart Delivery that are upgraded automatically and thousands of backward compatible titles across four generations.

Looking forward to this holiday, there will be more incredible games coming to Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S before the end of the year including Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War launching November 13, Destiny 2: Beyond Light launching November 10 and optimized for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on December 8,and Xbox console launch exclusive The Medium onDecember 10.  When Cyberpunk 2077 launches on November 19 it will look and play best on our next gen consoles and take advantage of Smart Delivery technology giving fans the best version for whatever Xbox console you own.

There is truly a game for everyone on Xbox. And we can’t wait to enter the future of console gaming with you.

The list of games available starting on November 10 that look and play best on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S includes: 

Day One Xbox Series X|S Optimized Titles 

  • Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Smart Delivery) 
  • Borderlands 3 (Smart Delivery) 
  • Bright Memory 1.0  
  • Cuisine Royale (Smart Delivery)
  • Dead by Daylight(Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery) 
  • Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition  
  • DIRT 5 (Smart Delivery) 
  • Enlisted  
  • Evergate
  • The Falconeer (Smart Delivery) 
  • Fortnite  
  • Forza Horizon 4 (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery) 
  • Gears 5 (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery) 
  • Gears Tactics (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery)
  • Grounded (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery) 
  • King Oddball (Smart Delivery) 
  • Maneater (Smart Delivery) 
  • Manifold Garden (Smart Delivery) 
  • NBA 2K21
  • Observer: System Redux 
  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery) 
  • Planet Coaster (Smart Delivery) 
  • Sea of Thieves(Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery) 
  • Tetris Effect: Connected (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery)
  • The Touryst (Xbox Game Pass + Smart Delivery) 
  • War Thunder (Smart Delivery) 
  • Warhammer: Chaosbane Slayer Edition  
  • Watch Dogs: Legion (Smart Delivery) 
  • WRC 9 FIA World Rally Championship (Smart Delivery)
  • Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Smart Delivery) 
  • Yes, Your Grace (Smart Delivery) 

Whether you’re upgrading to the newest consoles or joining the Xbox family for the first time, Xbox All Access is the easiest way to get the best of Xbox. Xbox All Access provides an Xbox Series X, or Series S, along with 24 months of the full Xbox Game Pass Ultimate experience. In total, that means you get access to:

  • The next-generation Xbox console of your choice
  • Over 100 high-quality games to play on console, including next-gen Optimized games
  • Over 100 high-quality games to play on PC
  • An EA Play membership to play more than 60 of EA’s biggest and best console and PC games
  • And over 100 games to play from the cloud

That’s all with no upfront costs and a low monthly price. Xbox Series S will be available starting from $24.99 a month for 24 months and Xbox Series X will be available starting from $34.99 a month for 24 months.

To provide even more value, we are teaming up with Electronic Arts to provide Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC members with an EA Play membership at no additional cost starting this holiday. This means Ultimate members can enjoy EA Play on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Windows 10 PCs, and Xbox Game Pass for PC members get EA Play on Windows 10. In addition to the 100+ games in the Xbox Game Pass library today, Ultimate and PC members will be able to play more than 60 of EA’s biggest and best console and PC games like FIFA 20, Titanfall 2 and Need for Speed Heat, as well as titles from some of EA’s most popular franchises like Battlefield, Mass Effect, Skate, and The Sims. Some of the best EA Play games will also be available for Ultimate members to play on Android devices from the cloud at no additional cost.

And we’re continuing to add great games and experiences to Xbox Game Pass for PC. Game Pass for PC and the Xbox App will become generally available on September 17.

Optimized games for Xbox Series X and Series S coming this year are built to take full advantage of our fastest consoles ever. On day one you will be the first to enjoy next-gen versions of the most anticipated games of the year such as Gears Tactics, Tetris Effect: Connected and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Watch Dogs: Legion. Ubisoft is known for leveraging new technologies and the power of new hardware to deliver groundbreaking games, and we think you’ll be blown away by the experience you’ll have playing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Watch Dogs: Legion on Xbox.

Xbox Series S is designed around the same technology that will make these games and so many others look and feel incredible. In speaking to game developers, we identified the areas that are most difficult to scale effectively, including the CPU and I/O, and made it easy to include Xbox Series S for developers who are targeting their experiences for Xbox Series X.

The Xbox Series S is an all-digital next-gen console designed to deliver everything that is core to next-generation gaming – faster load times, higher frame rates, and richer, more dynamic worlds – in our smallest Xbox ever. Available at $299 (Estimated Retail Price), Xbox Series S will join Xbox Series X this holiday giving you another way to jump into the next generation.  

Featuring a compact new design in Robot White, Xbox Series S is the smallest Xbox ever created and was built to easily fit into your home and lifestyle. Xbox Series S is also perfect for digital-first gamers and our fans who want to bring their games with them wherever they play. Xbox Series S includes our new Xbox Wireless Controller, also in Robot White. This controller will also be available as a standalone purchase this holiday and includes all of the same features we’ve detailed to date such as improved ergonomics, our hybrid D-pad, textured grip on the triggers, bumpers and back, as well as the new dedicated Share button. 

Xbox Series S delivers the same next generation speed and performance that define Xbox Series X. It is similar in CPU and has the identical I/O performance as Xbox Series X, making it easier for developers to deliver the same great performance, while rendering at a lower resolution. Xbox Series S delivers 4x the processing power of an Xbox One console and supports experiences up to 120fps, more immersive and responsive gameplay with support for hardware-accelerated DirectX Raytracing and Variable Rate Shading. In addition, Xbox Series S includes 512GB of custom SSD storage and is powered by the Xbox Velocity Architecture, delivering more than 40x the I/O bandwidth of an Xbox One resulting in faster loading times, steadier frame rates and Quick Resume for multiple titles.

You’ll also experience the same great audio on Xbox Series S that you will on Xbox Series X with Spatial Sound, including support for Dolby Atmos. What’s more, support for Dolby Vision via streaming media apps like Disney+, Vudu and Netflix will be available across Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X at launch, and Dolby Vision support for gaming will come first to our next-gen Xbox consoles in 2021.

The primary difference between Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S is in resolution. Through talking to our customers, we found that many of our fans prioritize framerate over resolution, so we wanted to build a console that didn’t require a 4K TV. Xbox Series S delivers approximately 3x the GPU performance of Xbox One and was designed to play games at 1440p at 60 frames per second, with support for up to 120fps. With the increased efficiency we get from the next generation AMD RDNA 2 graphics architecture combined with the virtual memory multipliers enabled through the Xbox Velocity Architecture, Xbox Series S will deliver performance and experiences well beyond the raw specs. In addition, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S share the same development environment, tools and capabilities, all of which enable developers to build and release their content across consoles more easily while still taking advantage of the unique hardware capabilities of the next generation. 

In addition, games built for the next generation will be Optimized for both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Titles that support Smart Delivery will automatically detect what device you are playing on – Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X or Xbox One – and deliver the best version of the game available to you, ensuring you only ever have to purchase your games once. Like Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S supports the Seagate Storage Expansion Card where you can add 1TB of additional storage with the full speed and performance of the Xbox Velocity Architecture. While your previous generation Xbox titles can still be played directly from your existing external USB 3.1 hard drives, to receive all the benefits of the Xbox Velocity Architecture and optimal performance, games Optimized for Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X must be played from the custom internal SSD or a Seagate Storage Expansion Card.

We’re expanding Xbox All Access this holiday to bring you more ways to jump into this next generation. With Xbox All Access, you can get a next generation Xbox with 24 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with no upfront cost, for just $34.99/month for 24 months for Xbox Series X and $24.99/month for 24 months for Xbox Series S. If you are already an Xbox All Access customer, you can take advantage of our flexible upgrade options. We’re expanding Xbox All Access to fans in 12 countries this holiday, expanding to Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Poland, South Korea and Sweden. For details and supporting retailers and partners visit Xbox.com/XboxAllAccess.

From a technical standpoint, this will manifest as world-class visuals in 4K at 60FPS, with possibility of up to 120FPS, including support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and 8K capability. Powered by our custom-designed processor leveraging the latest Zen 2 and next generation RDNA architecture from our partners at AMD, Xbox Series X will deliver hardware accelerated ray tracing and a new level of performance never before seen in a console.  Additionally, our patented Variable Rate Shading (VRS) technology will allow developers to get even more out of the Xbox Series X GPU and our next-generation SSD will virtually eliminate load times and bring players into their gaming worlds faster than ever before.

We are minimizing latency by leveraging technology such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and giving developers new functionality like Dynamic Latency Input (DLI) to make Xbox Series X the most responsive console ever.  Xbox Series X is also designed for a future in the cloud, with unique capabilities built into the hardware and software to make it as easy as possible to bring great games to both console and elsewhere. Xbox Series X will deliver a level of fidelity and immersion unlike anything that’s been achieved in previous console generations.   

One of the things we’re most proud of with Xbox Series X is the promise we’re delivering to our fans who have and continue to invest with Xbox. Thanks to backward compatibility, you can expect your gaming legacy, thousands of your favorite games across four generations of gaming, all your Xbox One gaming accessories, and industry-leading services like Xbox Game Pass to be available when you power on your Xbox Series X in Holiday 2020.

Building on our compatibility promise, with Xbox Series X we’re also investing in consumer-friendly pathways to game ownership across generations. Leading the way with our first-party titles including Halo Infinite in 2020, we’re committed to ensuring that games from Xbox Game Studios support cross-generation entitlements and that your Achievements and game saves are shared across devices.  As we branch out and extend gaming to more players around the world, console gaming will remain at the heart of our Xbox offering.  Game creators around the globe are already hard at work building content for Xbox Series X and our 15 Xbox Game Studios are developing the largest and most creatively diverse lineup of Xbox exclusive games in our history. On behalf of Team Xbox, we’re excited to enter the future of console gaming with you and can’t wait to share more in 2020.

Xbox Series X will be available November 10, 2020 for $499, whiole the Xbox Series X will retail for $299


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