Xbox Series X May Be Sold Out After Pre-orders But Microsoft Promises More Stock at Launch
Xbox Series X and Series S seem to be sold out and out of stock everywhere after pre-orders, but Microsoft has promised there will be more consoles in stock at launch.
It seems like only yesterday that we were ruminating on what went wrong with PS5 pre-orders, and here we are again. The Xbox Series X and Series S pre-orders didn’t quite go as planned for Microsoft, even after suggesting things would go much more smoothly than they did for Sony.
The sudden rush of customers to retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and GameStop led to sites crashing and many people being left without a pre-order as stores sold out of the next-gen consoles within minutes. Target wouldn’t let some people actually add a console to their carts. Even The Microsoft Store went down just as pre-orders opened on Tuesday.
Giving Xbox fans and retailers advance warning that pre-orders would open on Tuesday at 11 am ET didn’t seem to alleviate the issues that plagued Sony last week when it announced pre-orders with only a day’s warning. Stores just can’t seem to keep up with the demand for these consoles, which have been reported to be in short supply due to manufacturing and shipping delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Microsoft is putting a positive spin on things, of course, citing “record-breaking demand” for the Xbox Series X and Series S on Twitter.
The tech giant also reassured fans that “if you weren’t successful today be sure to sign up with retailers for updates, and expect more consoles to be available on November 10.” If you didn’t get a pre-order on Tuesday, it sounds like you’ll just have to sign up for back-in-stock alerts at your preferred retailer. We’d also recommend you follow trusted video game deals watchdog Wario64 on Twitter. He’s done a great job of posting listings right when they go up on digital storefronts.
While the Xbox Series X and Series S boast quite a bit of next-gen power as well as the excellent Xbox Game Pass (now with cloud gaming for Android devices), it’s likely that Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax Media, parent company of the famed game publisher Bethesda Softworks, helped boost the pre-order rush. After all, it’s no accident that Microsoft announced its deal with the Elder Scrolls and Fallout publisher a day before pre-orders were set to go live. It turned out to be a brilliant way for Microsoft to create even more excitement for its next-gen consoles.
The Xbox Series X and Series S, which are priced at $499 and $299 respectively, will launch on Nov. 10. Here’s a guide on how and where to pre-order these consoles. And once you secure your pre-order, here’s the complete list of confirmed games coming to the Xbox Series X/S at launch.
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John Saavedra is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Den of Geek. He lives in New York City with his two cats.