Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Xbox Series X is the next Xbox, and it will arrive for the 2020 holiday season

By
Xbox Series X - World Premier - 4K trailer

Microsoft has officially announced the name of the next Xbox, and it isn’t exactly what we expected. Xbox Series X is coming next holiday season, and it looks more like a PC than any game console we’ve seen before.

Recommended Videos

Announced via a short teaser during The Game Awards 2019, the Xbox Series X console is the official name of Project Scarlett, and its form factor is vertical, with a disc drive visible on the front. The console was teased with footage of Master Chief, as well as a car from Forza and a soccer player — presumably either from FIFA or PES. With Microsoft boasting that the console will have four times more processing power than the Xbox One X, the possibilities seem pretty limitless for the kind of games we will end up seeing.

Related

A new controller will be shipping with the console, which is quite similar to the Xbox One’s controller. It features a share button similar to the PS4’s controller, as well as a new directional pad that is based on the design of the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller. The console itself can be placed vertically or horizontally, and resembles a PC — to the point that we believed it might have been a PC before Microsoft confirmed it was indeed its next-generation console.

Xbox Series X

One other game was shown during the presentation, and it’s a sequel from Ninja Theory. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will release on the Xbox Series X, and the trailer was near-photorealistic and once again featured Melina Juergens in the lead role. Given the dark and emotional impact of the previous game’s ending, it will be interesting to see where the story goes. It’s the second game in development now at Ninja Theory, with the studio currently working on the multiplayer action game Bleeding Edge coming to Xbox One next year.

Speaking to GameSpot, head of Xbox Phil Spencer revealed that the console will indeed have 12 TFLOPS of GPU power, GDDR6 RAM, and an NVMe SSD. The system will also let you pause and resume multiple games, unlike the one-game limit on current systems.

Sony has yet to confirm the design of its PlayStation 5, but we don’t anticipate it being radically different from its current console. We will likely hear more in early 2020, and will keep you updated on the latest news.

For more The Game Awards updates, check out our full coverage.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Try these 2 indie greats before they leave Xbox Game Pass next week
An orb sits in an alien desert in Exo One.

I’m always excited for those two days every month when Xbox drops a blog post detailing the new additions coming to Game Pass. Even in slow months, there’s usually a hidden gem on there that I’m curious about digging into. Though as curious as I am about checking out what’s new, I often forget to scroll to the bottom and see what’s leaving the service. And just as there are a few standouts added to the service each month, Game Pass also tends to quietly lose just as many with each new batch.

That’s exactly the case this July. While the service gains Grand Theft Auto V and Exoprimal this month, it’s also losing two standout indies: Spelunky 2 and Exo One. If you’re looking for some games to play during a slow month for big releases, here’s why you should check out both before they leave the service on July 15.
Spelunky 2

Read more
You can get a month of Xbox Game Pass for $1 right now
A tv shows the new Xbox Game Pass that comes to Samsung Gaming Hub soon.

If you aren't currently signed up for Xbox Game Pass, you can currently get your first month for $1. The deal only applies to Game Pass Ultimate and its PC version, though, as the console-only version is still at its full price.

Early in the Xbox Game Pass era, Microsoft would offer $1 onboarding deals for the service. The trick helped the company build a massive user base early on, but it has moved away from that cheap deal in recent years as the service has become a household name with gamers. It's finally available again for anyone who's been waiting for a reason to subscribe, though it's not as eye-popping a deal as it once was.

Read more
The best Xbox Series X games for 2023
Call of Duty Warzone screenshot of 3 characters walking towards the camera.

After an uneven console cycle with the Xbox One, Microsoft's latest consoles are aimed at getting the ship back on course. The Xbox Series X is a next-generation powerhouse that rivals gaming PCs, while the Xbox Series S is an affordable stopgap for those who are curious about trying new games.

There's no shortage of games to play on either console thanks to Xbox Game Pass, which gives players immediate access to a library of titles old and new. That built-in catalog is an extra value on top of all the new games available on the system that take advantage of its impressive technical specs. When it comes to first-party exclusives, the Series X is still growing. Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 gave a good boost to the console's library following a somewhat sparse first year. More games are also on the way. Microsoft's Bethesda acquisition will bring exclusives like Starfield and the potential addition of all Activision Blizzard games would further bolster that list, but the console's real strength lies in third-party support.

Read more