Microsoft Unveils Its Next Xbox Console Release With A $349 Retail Price

This week, Xbox and Bethesda held a showcase that revealed a number of new games as well as updates to existing titles. What might have been most interesting is Microsoft's acknowledgment that the Xbox Series S, while formidable, is not entirely cut out for today's games or, rather, their requirements. With rapidly increasing storage requirements, expansion cards have taken off, filling the need for more game storage. However, a new console coming in to undercut the Xbox Series S might solve that problem.

At $349.99, the upcoming Carbon Black Series S is Microsoft's stab at helping gamers with their storage woes. It features a 1TB SSD that doubles the standard 512GB SSD that comes in the regular Xbox Series S, all while being cheaper than the original console and storage expansion one effectively needs to play more than five games in any given period.


Besides the storage, the now-matte black console sports the same internals as its predecessor while matching the style of the Xbox Series X. Further, you'll still enjoy features such as Quick Resume, 120 FPS games, and impressive load times. However, with Xbox Game Pass and the upgraded storage, you can enjoy more games than were possible on the Xbox Series S.

The Xbox Series S Carbon Black will arrive on September 1st in time for Starfield. It can be had at the Microsoft or Xbox online stores, though more retailers will be making it available for preorder soon. In the meantime, you can check out the rest of our coverage from Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase 2023 event.