Microsoft announced two very big news for Xbox fans a couple of minutes ago: First of all, Halo Infinite, which was supposed to be a launch title for the upcoming Xbox Series X console, has now been delayed to 2021 to give developer 343 Industries more time to give Halo fans the next-gen experience they deserve.
Additionally, the company has just confirmed on Xbox Wire that the Xbox Series X will be available in November. “There will be thousands of games to play, spanning four generations, when Xbox Series X launches globally this November and over 100 optimized for Xbox Series X titles, built to take full advantage of our most powerful console, are planned for this year,” the blog post on Xbox Wire reads.
According to Tom Warren from The Verge, “the first week of November looks like it’s lining up to be the launch time for Xbox Series X.” However, you should probably take this with a grain of salt as the ongoing covid-19 pandemic could still affect Microsoft’s plans. Anyway, the Xbox Series X won’t launch with a flagship first-party title, which is definitely a missed opportunity for the company.
This holiday season, several blockbuster games from third-party developers will be optimized for the Xbox Series X at launch, which is certainly better than nothing. The list includes Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Dirt 5, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and Watch Dogs: Legion, but you can also add a couple of existing games that will get Xbox Series X enhancements including Destiny 2, Forza Horizon 4, and Gears 5.
Microsoft’s Xbox Series X will have a power advantage over Sony’s PlayStation 5, but we still don’t know how much the next-gen Xbox console will cost. Sony has also yet to announce pricing and availability details for its next-gen console, and there could still be some surprises in the coming weeks. Microsoft is also expected to announce a cheaper Xbox Series S console later this month that would have a less powerful GPU than the Series X, but still include a similar AMD Zen 2-based CPU and a fast NVMe storage solution.
Seven years ago, Microsoft launched its Xbox One console on November 22, a full week after the PlayStation 4 launched on November 15 in the US (November 29 for Europe). Do you expect the Xbox Series X to launch before the PlayStation 5 in November? Let us know in the comments below.
