Western Digital has launched its Xbox Series X/S storage expansion cards

Western Digital has launched its range of Xbox Series X/S storage expansion cards.

There’s a 500GB version priced at $79.99 and a $1TB card costing $149.99. Both also come with a one-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership.

In the UK, Amazon is selling the 500GB version for £86.14, but the larger version is currently unavailable.

The new range offers the first alternative to Seagate’s memory cards, which launched alongside Microsoft’s system and were previously the only way of expanding the console’s storage for native Series X/S games.

Xbox One and backwards compatible Xbox 360 and Xbox games can be stored on an external USB drive, but they can’t run Series X/S games because their read/write speeds are far slower than the console’s internal SSD.

It’s finally here – Introducing the WD_BLACK C50 Expansion Card for Xbox. Get it now at https://t.co/tVTUKwzGSF pic.twitter.com/LbgyXnnzNk

— WD_BLACK (@wd_black) June 6, 2023

A Western Digital expansion card for Xbox Series X/S first appeared online at Best Buy in April, ahead of schedule as the product listing was later removed.

Then last month, Seagate dropped the price of its Xbox Series X/S storage expansion cards to $89.99 for 512GB, $149.99 for 1TB and $279.99 for 2TB.

In the UK, Seagate’s 512GB card can be purchased for £99.99, while the 1TB version is available for £150.