The next-generation Xbox website briefly listed 'Thanksgiving 2020' as the console's release date, but Microsoft says it was an error
- Microsoft's next-gen Xbox console, Xbox Series X, is currently in development.
- The new console is said to be four times more powerful than the current Xbox One X console.
- The Xbox Series X will launch on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, the console's official website briefly displayed on Wednesday.
- "An Xbox product page in some regions inaccurately listed the launch date for Xbox Series X as Thanksgiving 2020," a representative told Business Insider. "We are committed to launching Holiday 2020."
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Microsoft's next-generation video game console, the Xbox Series X, may be scheduled to arrive on November 26, 2020 - Thanksgiving 2020. That's according to a listing that briefly appeared on the console's official website, seen below, which has since been changed.
"An Xbox product page in some regions inaccurately listed the launch date for Xbox Series X as Thanksgiving 2020," a Microsoft representative told Business Insider. "We are committed to launching Holiday 2020."
The upcoming Xbox Series X is a new console that's much more powerful than any current Xbox. It still runs Blu-ray discs, and it supports games from previous Xbox generations, but it also plays new games that are part of a new generation of game consoles.
The update to Microsoft's official page was first spotted by Twitter users, and featured a full-on graphic saying the console will release on "Thanksgiving 2020," which is November 26.
Though the PlayStation 5 is scheduled to arrive this fall, it doesn't have a release date just yet. Sony hosted a "deep dive" video into its next-generation console on Wednesday where the console's chief architect largely discussed tech specifications. No games were shown, nor was the console itself shown.
Microsoft has repeatedly discussed the Xbox Series X openly, and the console's design was shown last December.
"Xbox Series X will be our fastest, most powerful console ever and set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility," Xbox leader Phil Spencer said in December when the console's design and name were revealed at the 2019 Game Awards.
The Xbox Series X, he said, is four times faster than the current Xbox One X - an already powerful game console.
These are the approximate specs of Microsoft's next Xbox:
- Processor: AMD "Navi" processor ("SoC"): "At the heart of our next-generation console is our custom-designed processor, leveraging the latest Zen 2 and and Navi technology from our partners at AMD."
- Memory: GDDR6 RAM
- Optical Media Drive: Blu-ray disc drive
- Storage: Solid-state drive
Microsoft says all that hardware can produce 8K visuals, and up to 120 frames-per-second. The company also says that the SSD will load games faster than ever before, and multiple games can be left suspended with a "quick resume" feature. Simply put, the feature lets players, "continue multiple games from a suspended state almost instantly, returning you to where you were and what you were doing, without waiting through long loading screens."
In the announcement video from June 2019, a Microsoft employee says "hundreds" of people inside and outside of Microsoft are already working on games for Xbox Series X.
Also in the video, "Halo Infinite" was revealed as a launch title for the next-gen Xbox console - the next major entry in the decades-old "Halo" first-person shooter series.
And it's safe to assume that other major first-party game franchises, like "Gears of War" and "Forza," are in production. Microsoft said that "15 Xbox Game Studios are developing the largest and most creatively diverse lineup of Xbox exclusive games in our history" for the Xbox Series X.
Outside of Microsoft, at least two major next-gen games are in the works that we already know of: "The Elder Scrolls VI" and "Starfield," both from Bethesda Softworks.
And beyond that, there are some obvious guesses we can make: The annual new "Call of Duty" game coming in 2020 will almost certainly come to the next Xbox (and PlayStation), as well as a new "Assassin's Creed" game.
