It looks like Microsoft wants to ride the chatter wave since Sony recently just announced they would continue manufacturing the PS4 through the end of 2022 in order to keep some form of console out there in the world until the company is able to keep up with demand surrounding the PS5. Now, Microsoft is stepping up to say that it has ended the Xbox One models, completely.
A few of the consoles have already been discontinued, but this marks the end for all Xbox One consoles, including the Xbox One S and One X variations. This means the company will no longer manufacture any of these, allowing it to focus on just the new Xbox Series S/X consoles.
Meanwhile, the Xbox Series X is still next to impossible to find unless you are incredibly patient and/or completely lucky. The kind of patient that requires waiting in lines or sitting in front of your computer for weeks (or months) on end, hitting the refresh button hoping to catch a new drop of inventory the moment it happens.
Thankfully, there are ways of scoring the console that isn’t too mind-numbing. If the digital-only version of the console is “good enough” for you, then the Xbox Series S console does pop up as available quite frequently from places like Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop. You don’t have the ability for disks the hardware and specs aren’t as impressive as the Series X, but it’s at least obtainable and better than the Xbox One S.
As for the Xbox Series X, it may be incredibly hard to find, but you can typically get it if you don’t mind buying two years of Game Pass Ultimate along with it, using the Xbox All Access deal. All Access allows you to lease the system plus the cost of two years of Ultimate at no additional cost (assuming you make your payments in time). Which means around $880 or so, but no interest or added fees in addition to that. This too is dependant on inventory, but Best Buy and GameStop get inventory in all the time that is dedicated to Xbox All Access buyers.
In fact, both Best Buy and GameStop actively show the All Access option available on their site at the time of writing this. So if Ultimate sounds good to you (or you already subscribe anyway), then this is a no-brainer. This is how we added an Xbox Series X on site since Microsoft wouldn’t even respond to us about any interest in buying one–and we’re press that like to talk about them all the time (their marketing departments aren’t always the brightest). Thankfully, Ultimate allows anyone to walk up and start playing something on their free time so it just made for a nice perk for the team.
Moving back to the topic at hand though, it seems that Microsoft thinks it is way ahead of Sony when it comes to keeping up with demand. So much that it doesn’t need to profit off of any other system on the market (unlike Sony).
While this may or may not be true, it would be wise to focus on modern systems vs the older options as this will help usher games into the future naturally, vs causing any further setbacks. So many games have been pushed into 2024 or 2025 just so they will have a greater chance at releasing into the hands of enough people that actually own the consoles capable of playing them (vs having to dumb down the graphics to be cross-compatible with older systems.
