Xbox Series X Iteration Work 'Already Started', Mid-Gen Upgrade Happening Soon

Microsoft’s next-generation gaming consoles Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are scheduled to arrive in November and, it appears, the company has already started working on the consoles' iterations. A recent statement from Xbox’s head honcho may have revealed a mid-generation could be on its way.

In a recent interview with Kotaku, Xbox boss Phil Spencer was asked if Xbox could introduce faster SSDs in new consoles to match the speeds of the SSDs of the PS5. "I think, like you’ve seen in past generations, that we will iterate on hardware. We’ve already started, right? Our team doesn’t go away, when we kind of lock the spec," Spencer said.

In September, Spencer told Yahoo Finance that Microsoft was planning for more console hardware in the future notwithstanding the growth it sees from the cloud gaming technology xCloud. The Xbox executive explained just like in the video or the music industry, streaming has not cut off device innovation. "I think we’ll continue to see that and that’s absolutely what we’re planning for," he noted.

Spencer also predicted the cheaper Xbox Series S would outsell the Xbox Series X over the course of the next generation. While the executive anticipated the Xbox Series X would be a bigger hit, especially to early adopters, he told Kotaku in an interview that price really matters over the generation. He added that "you would see the Series S sell more."

When asked about which new gaming console would ship more this holiday season, Spencer said, "For us and PlayStation, I think that the manufacturing supply chain is going to dictate [market] share more than anything else."

The all-digital Xbox Series S retails at $300/$300/£249 while the Xbox Series X costs $499/€499/£449. Both Microsoft’s gaming systems are set to arrive Nov. 10. The consoles were launched for pre-order Sept. 22, with stocks snapped out quickly.