Xbox Series X pre-orders cause both of UK’s All Access retailers to crash

Both UK retailers offering Xbox Series X and S via Microsoft’s All Access payment program crashed on Tuesday, shortly after pre-orders opened.

Game and Smyths Toys were forced to take their websites offline following the 8am opening of pre-orders, which means that, at the time of publishing, it’s not possible to pre-order a console via All Access in the UK.

Xbox All Access bundles allow customers to pay monthly for a new Xbox console and a Game Pass Ultimate subscription, from £20.99 for Series S or £28.99 for Series X for 24 months.

Game, whose website is currently down entirely, said it was working to “improve the customer journey for our pre-order customers” and encouraged customers to keep checking for updates.

Meanwhile, Smyths said its website pre-orders for Xbox Series X and S were unavailable, but customers can still pre-order the new Xbox consoles in stores. All Access is unavailable while its website pre-orders are down.

UPDATE: Smith’s All Access website is now live.

The situation isn’t ideal for Microsoft UK. However, for those looking to pre-order and Xbox Series X or S outside of the All Access program, so far pre-orders have gone relatively smoothly.

In the UK Xbox Series X pre-orders went live at 8am on Tuesday, with many major retailers quickly selling out of the premium Series X console. Amazon UK sold out of the more powerful model in less than 20 minutes, despite the listing only being visible via search for half that time.

At the time of publishing, UK retailers Argos, Very, ShopTo and Currys PC World have also sold out of Xbox Series X consoles, while Series S appears to be widely available.

Last week Microsoft officially priced Xbox Series X at $499 / €499 / £449 and Xbox Series S at $300 / $300 / £249. The US will open its own Xbox Series X and S pre-orders at 8AM PDT / 11AM EDT.

UK Xbox Series X / S Pre-Orders

• Microsoft Store (Series X) / Microsoft Store (Series S)
• Amazon (Series X) / Amazon (Series S)
• Game (Series X) / Game (Series S)
• Argos (Series X) / Argos (Series S)
• Currys PC World
• Smyths Toys
• ShopTo
• AO .com
• Very (Series X) / Very (Series S)