The start of a new console generation usually spells doom for the previous iteration of hardware. No-one wanted a PS3 when the PS4 launched. Why would you want the previous generation when everything else was so much…shinier? Sure, reduced prices might be a draw for some but publishers like Sony and Microsoft are gearing up to reduce the emphasis on the old generation. Why? Well, profits more directly align with the next step in technology. Such is the case with the current Xbox One series, set to be retired by Microsoft just a few months before their next console, the Xbox Series X, hits later this year.
Meet my X
Microsoft has confirmed production on the Xbox One X and the Xbox One S Digital Edition has been halted as the company gears up for the next generation. Speaking to The Verge, a Microsoft spokesperson stated, “As we ramp into the future with Xbox Series X, we’re taking the natural step of stopping production on Xbox One X and Xbox One S All-Digital Edition. Xbox One S will continue to be manufactured and sold globally.”
It’s strange to think that when the Xbox One X was first announced in 2017, it was designed as the “world’s most powerful console” with 6 teraflops of power. Compare that with the Xbox Series X, which is pushing 12 teraflops of power; double what the One X was capable of producing only three years ago. That’s genuinely wild.
If you’ve been thinking of leaping on the Xbox One train so late in its life cycle (which is a questionable decision but you do you) there’s clearly never been a better time. Still, we would just wait a few months and rather sink that cash into the next generation. That seems like the smarter investment.
(Source: The Verge)