Microsoft officially unveils Xbox Series X as its next-gen console

Microsoft has officially unveiled it next-generation console, Xbox Series X.

The platform previously known as Project Scarlett was unveiled at The Game Awards in Los Angeles on Thursday, where Xbox head Phil Spencer claimed that all 15 of Xbox’s internal studios are now working on games for the platform.

Spencer revealed the second Series X game at the event, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 by Ninja Theory. Halo Infinite was confirmed as a cross-platform title earlier this year.

The Xbox boss described Series X’s design as “bold and unique,” with a design which supports both vertical and horizontal orientation.

In an interview with Gamespot, Spencer said that the console is designed to be as quiet as possible, with a single, large fan pushing high volumes of air out of the top.

Spencer said in a statement: “Xbox Series X will be our fastest, most powerful console ever and set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility, allowing you to bring your gaming legacy, thousands of games from three generations and more forward with you.

“Its industrial design enables us to deliver four times the processing power of Xbox One X in the most quiet and efficient way, something that is critically important in delivering truly immersive gameplay.”

Alongside Xbox Series X, Xbox also unveiled the new Xbox Wireless Controller. As well as a new size and shape, it also features a new Share button and a d-pad derived from the Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller.

The new Xbox Wireless Controller will be compatible with Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, and will be included with every Xbox Series X.

Series X will be backwards compatible with all Xbox One games and accessories, and Xbox Game Pass will also be available.

Xbox is also investing in game ownership across generations, it said, starting with Halo Infinite in 2020 which will support cross-generation Achievements and game saves.

From a technical standpoint, Series X will be powered by a custom-designed processor leveraging the latest Zen 2 and next generation RDNA architecture from AMD.

Xbox Series X will deliver hardware accelerated ray tracing, Variable Rate Shading (VRS) technology and a next-generation SSD which Xbox says will virtually eliminate load times.

Series X will minimise latency by leveraging technology such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and giving developers new functionality like Dynamic Latency Input (DLI).