Xbox Series X and Series S go on sale today

The next-generation of Xbox consoles go on sale today in the UK with the Series X costing £449 and the S priced at £249.  

Microsoft’s Series X Xbox is the company’s most powerful console ever, delivering significant upgrades to the internal hardware, making it faster than its predecessors. 

The cut-price Series S is a digital-only console which is the smallest ever Xbox and is intended to give more choice to customers who are reluctant to splash out on the flagship device.

Meanwhile, rival console maker Sony is due to release its PlayStation 5, in just over a week on November 19 in the UK. 

The PS5 will be available on Thursday in the US, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. 

James Butcher, head of Xbox UK, said the flagship Series X offers ‘the best console experience we’ve been able to deliver so far’.

Microsoft achieved this thanks to significant internal hardware upgrades which mean the new console is faster and more powerful.

As a result of the updates, it is also able to handle higher-quality graphics than ever before.

It is being released alongside the smaller, cheaper Series S, which the company argues offers more choice to consumers.

‘Really the Series X is for the gamer who wants the ultimate gaming experience – the most immersive with the highest graphical fidelity on the world’s most powerful console,’ he told the PA news agency.

In contrast, the Xbox Series S is the smallest console the company has ever made and comes without a disk-drive, instead relying on digital delivery for content.  

Mr Butcher said that although the Series S was more compact, it offered similar performance to the heavyweight Series X.

‘I think with Series S it is more about consumer choice and making gaming accessible. 

‘It’s the smallest Xbox we’ve ever built. It’s a digital console and it carries the same next-gen features but at a slightly lower graphical resolution,’ he said.

Mr Butcher said the company’s aim was ‘enabling you, the gamer, to play the games you want with the people you want on the devices you want’ and with the launch of these two consoles ‘this is the year where that vision becomes a reality’.

Early reviews have hailed the new consoles for the speed at which games load and launch compared with existing devices, while the introduction of technology such as ray-tracing, which enables games to better realistically mimic lighting, have also impressed.

Mr Butcher said it was these aspects that he expected users to notice after unboxing the new tech for the first time.

‘I think it’ll be a combination of the speed – that instantaneous jump into the experience – and the performance side of things,’ he said.

‘What I’m finding is that it’s so immersive, in open-world games for example, they are so much more lifelike now when we’re getting up to 120 frames per second (fps), we get a much smoother, steadier experience and you can recognise it and feel it.’

To mark the launch of the new consoles, Xbox set up a holographic display in central London with a backdrop of the iconic St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

Standing 12 ft high, the installation used four 4K projectors to create a holographic chamber, with multiple cameras used. 

‘Gaming has the power to inspire, to connect and entertain us, and this next generation of gaming is coming at a time when play is more important than ever,’ said Phil Spencer, executive vice-president of Gaming at Microsoft. 

‘There are three billion people who play games across the globe; our vision is to make gaming great for every player on every device for every generation in every location around the world. 

‘The launch of Xbox Series X and Series S marks a moment for us to celebrate the power of play together.’