It has been a busy month for Microsoft and Sony, both announcing the prices of their upcoming next-gen consoles. After Sony announced the prices for the PlayStation 5 at the PS5 Showcase event, the pre-ordering process was scrambled, many retail sites were overloaded with users, and some customers were unable to secure the PlayStation 5 pre-order.
Microsoft announced its pre-order date with a tweet that poked fun at the PlayStation pre-order problems with a promise to provide a start time. Now, Microsoft has followed through and has provided an exact time pre-orders for the Xbox Series X and Series S will be available. Pre-orders officially start at 8 AM Pacific, and 11 AM Eastern, on September 22. Pre-orders will be available through online retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, Costco, GameStop, Microsoft Store, Newegg, Target, and Walmart. The Xbox Series X will be priced at $500 and the Xbox Series S will be priced at $300.
The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are expected to sell out extremely fast so fans may want to make sure they are on the retailer website the minute it launches. Retailers are preparing for an overload of customers with Best Buy even recommending customers update their billing and shipping information based on the expectation that pre-orders will sell out within minutes.
The Target website not only mentions the pre-orders for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, but also shows two Xbox accessories. Both the Xbox Series X controller and the rechargeable battery also show up on the website, however no price or release date is listed, so it is possible the accessories will launch along with the pre-order.
The actual release date of November 1oth seems far off, but players will be welcomed with a large number of launch titles when the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S ship out. Fans will be able to play launch titles such as Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Valhalla and Watch Dogs Legion, as well as Dirt 5, Forza Horizon 4, and Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Other games are planned for releases a few days after the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S release date, so although they are not considered launch titles, they will be available very shortly after the console becomes available.
The highly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War releases on November 13th so players will have a chance to get into the action only a few days after the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S release date. There are many exciting game options for players, however, the first step is securing the new console.
Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X launch on November 10, 2020.