History of video games/Platforms/Xbox Series

Development
Rumors of Project Scarlett began to surface in June of 2018, which predicted a console launch in 2020. On December 12, 2019 the design for the Xbox Series X was revealed in a video which features recordings of philosopher Alan Watts.

In September of 2020 just prior to launch, Microsoft purchases Zenimax Media which gives them ownership of a number of Bethesda and iD software game franchises including Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein, Fallout, and The Elder Scrolls. This acquisition was done to bolster the Game Pass program.

Early Reactions
The name of the system lead to widespread confusion and a number of jokes, including by internal social media. The English abbreviation and the Japanese pronunciation of the Xbox Series X both contained innuendos, leading to additional mockery.

Many internet commentators noting the design of the Series X resembles a refrigerator. In response, in late October 2020 a special edition six foot tall refrigerator themed after the Xbox Series X was revealed.

Launch
Two consoles were announced for launch on November 10th, 2020, the $299 digital only Series S, and the $499 Series X. Within a day the Xbox Series X and Series X broke first day sales records for Xbox consoles. Supply issues would continue to plague the console through January 2021.

On January 22nd, 2021 Microsoft announced a price increase for Xbox Live for the first time in nearly a decade. Facing a large backlash, Microsoft reversed their decision to increase the price by January 23rd, 2021, though they did continue to make free to play games not require a subscription for online play.

In early 2021 Microsoft improved it's accessibility program for the Xbox Series, helping game developers confirm their games are playable by those with handicaps.

From launch to the release of a March 2021 patch, controllers for the system had issues maintaining connections with the console. An official wireless headset was also released in March 2021.

In 2021 a promotion with Krispy Kreme in the UK and Ireland was announced, creating an Xbox themed doughnut for the 20th anniversary of Xbox.

The Xbox Series line did notably better in Japan then the prior Xbox One line.

Expansion
Xbox has lost the console wars, and its rivals are positioned to continue to dominate, including by leveraging exclusive content.

Compute
The Xbox Series X uses an 7 nanometer process 8 core AMD Zen 2 CPU clocked at 3.8 gigahertz with simultaneous multithreading off or 3.6 gigahertz with simultaneous multithreading on. The AMD RDNA based GPU has 52 compute units clocked at 1.825 gigahertz with a performance of 12 teraflops.

The Series X has 16 gigabytes of GDDR6 RAM, with 10 gigabytes having a 560GB/s bandwidth and 6 gigabytes having a 336GB/s bandwidth.

Hardware
The Series X uses an internal custom 1 terabyte non-volatile memory express (NVMe) solid state drive. Storage is expandable. The Series X has a Ultra HD Blu Ray Drive for external storage, as well as a storage expansion slot.

The Series X internals are very modular for a console, and have significant amounts of cooling. A large 130 millimeter fan is used for cooling, in conjunction with a copper vapor chamber. Some have speculated the use of significant cooling by Microsoft is an attempt to not repeat the widespread reliability issues caused by inadequate cooling on previous consoles such as the Xbox 360.

The system uses an HDMI 2.1 port.

Compute
The Xbox Series S uses an 7 nanometer process 8 core AMD Zen 2 CPU clocked at 3.6 gigahertz with simultaneous multithreading off or 3.4 gigahertz with simultaneous multithreading on. The AMD RDNA based GPU has 20 compute units clocked at 1.565 gigahertz with a performance of 4 teraflops.

The Series S has 10 gigabytes of GDDR6 RAM, with 8 gigabytes having a 224GB/s bandwidth and 2 gigabytes having a 56GB/s bandwidth.

Hardware
The Series S uses a custom internal 512 gigabyte non-volatile memory express (NVMe) solid state drive. Internal storage is expandable through a slot, though the console lacks a optical drive.

A small illustration of a Spartan helmet from the Halo series is located on the Series S internal power supply unit casing - A hardware easter egg.

Dev Kit
The official Xbox Series X developer kit casing is very similar to the project scorpio Dev Kit made in the lead up to the Xbox One X, though there are differences. Prior to launch, developers of UWP apps were advised to simply use a Xbox One X and then validate on Xbox Series X or Series S hardware when they became available. The Series X developer kit featured enhanced memory with a 320 bit bus capable of higher speeds at 560 gigabytes a second, and having a larger amount, sporting 40 gigabytes of GDDR6 VRAM. This memory was contained in 20 Samsung K4ZAF325BM-HC14 chips containing 2 gigabytes of VRAM each. The Series X dev kit also included a 10 gigabit Ethernet port, a built in display and extra buttons.

Standard Xbox Series Consoles can be used for development through a development mode. In January 2022 restrictions began being implemented to stop homebrew and emulation.

Software
The Xbox Series X and Series S both support universal windows platform (UWP) applications, with no significant changes from the proceeding Xbox One X console for backwards compatibility reasons.

Halo Infinite
On July 29th, 2021 a limited public beta of the multiplayer was launched. As a result of an accidental inclusion, a number of plot details of the game were leaked early.

Read more about Halo Infinite on Wikipedia.

Hi-Fi Rush
Read more about Hi-Fi Rush on Wikipedia.

Redfall
Read more about Redfall on Wikipedia.

External Resources

 * Xbox - Official website.