Xbox Series S Officially(!) Announced

You may have seen it in insider leaks, from the booklets in controllers or even on leaflets for Gamepass, but Microsoft have finally decided to announce the Xbox Series S.

The worst kept secret in gaming is also shaping up to be the best value entry into the next generation. At just $299/£250 you get a console that will play all next-generation games with a target of 1080p. Since the advert boasts 100 games on Gamepass, I think it’s safe to assume it’ll also do all the relevant backwards compatibility magic of its bigger brother, the Xbox Series X.

The all-digital console has an SSD, so will benefit from faster loading times and asset streaming. It’ll have velocity architecture and raytracing, meaning it shouldn’t hold back its more powerful counterpart.

Xbox Series S
🎮 All-digital next-gen console
🏃 Faster load times
📈 Higher frame rates
🌎 Richer, more dynamic worlds
🔥 Next generation gaming performance
🔎 In our smallest Xbox ever#PowerYourDreams pic.twitter.com/5GxCBiSVtO

— Xbox (@Xbox) September 8, 2020

Rumours are that it’ll have the same CPU as the Series X, and will have a GPU at around 4tflops. In layman’s terms, that’s enough to run the same titles as the 4k machine, but at 1080p. That’ll leave a bit of headroom as well.

Microsoft announced the Xbox Series S in the early hours of this morning after pictures and pricing information leaked online.

It brings to the end of 12 months of speculation about the device. Rumours of a second console began as early as 2018, with discussion heating up after mention of the Series S codename Lockhart was found in the Xbox One operating system.

In the last few months, the console has been unofficially officially confirmed time and time again. Microsoft’s own controllers, believed to have been taken during a raid at a shop and sold early, confirmed the existence of the Series S. Gamepass cards did the same shortly afterwards.

More information is expected to be revealed over the coming weeks.