Microsoft's Original Xbox One Model Has Officially Been Discontinued

Microsoft has confirmed that it has officially discontinued the original Xbox One model. Now, only the Xbox One S and the Xbox One X are available to purchase directly from Microsoft’s online store.

Rolling Stone's Glixel first reported the discontinuation of the original Xbox One last week. Apparently, Microsoft stopped manufacturing the console when it first introduced the Xbox One S back in June 2016.

“As is typical for the console industry, we stopped manufacturing the original Xbox One when we introduced Xbox One S,” a spokesperson told Glixel.

The original Xbox One was first revealed back in November 2013, and it carried a $500 price tag at launch. It’s price was $100 more than the original PlayStation 4 since the Xbox One was bundled along with the Kinect camera. In June 2014, Microsoft started selling its console without the Kinect camera to match the PS4’s $400 price, according to GameSpot.

The official discontinuation of the original Xbox One model arrives more than a year after Microsoft stopped manufacturing it. It’s also almost three months before the release of the Xbox One X in November, which would have been the original Xbox One’s fourth anniversary.

Consumers will likely be able to still buy the original Xbox One from some retailers and other online stores, but it’s no longer available from Microsoft. The Xbox One S will now become Microsoft’s cheapest model, while the Xbox One X will function as the company’ premium and most powerful console.

The Xbox One S is not only 40 percent smaller than the original Xbox One, but it’s also packing more media features. The One S supports native 4K video and HDR10 for streaming movies and TV shows, as well as some games. The console is capable of upscaling full HD 1080p games up to 4K UHD resolution.

Microsoft officially revealed the Xbox One S last year and it may have prompted Sony to release the PlayStation 4 Pro a few months later in November 2016. Microsoft then went on to make the world’s most powerful console, codenamed Project Scorpio. That console model ended up being called the Xbox One X, which is now slated for release this November.

With Microsoft now seemingly concentrating on power and 4K gaming, the discontinuation of the original Xbox One model seems to be unsurprising. The Xbox One consoles have been behind the PlayStation 4 in terms of global shipments, and cutting the original Xbox One is Microsoft’s way of streamlining its current console offering.

It’s not yet clear how this will affect Microsoft’s console sales, but the company will now solely rely on the Xbox one S and the Xbox One X moving forward.

The PS4 was the top-selling console for June 2017. For July 2017 however, the Nintendo Switch took that title. Microsoft, on the other hand, officially stopped sharing Xbox One sales numbers since 2015. VGChartz estimated that Microsoft has sold more than 30 million units of the Xbox One worldwide as of June 30, 2017.