Forget Xbox Series X restocks: Here's when you should buy one

Forget Xbox Series X restocks: Here's when you should buy ane

(Paradigm credit: Shutterstock)

The Xbox Series X is here — if you can observe i. Yet, if you've struck out in your attempts to discover Microsoft'south next-gen console, I have some proficient news: You don't really need one yet. Since the Xbox Series 10 plays the same games as the Xbox One (or a good gaming PC), y'all tin safely wait until next year, and finish up your backlog in the meantime.

Still, if at present isn't the right fourth dimension to buy an Xbox Series X, when will it exist — if that fourth dimension comes at all? While this question is relatively easy to answer for the PS5 ("when more exclusive games come up out"), information technology'south harder to do then for the Xbox Serial 10. That's because the Serial 10 is simply one element in Microsoft's larger gaming ecosystem, not necessarily its focal indicate.

See our full Xbox Series X review
Where to purchase Xbox Series X — restock updates
Plus: How I snagged Xbox Series X restock at Walmart — and beat the bots

The truth is, when you purchase an Xbox Series Ten is almost totally arbitrary, since you'll have access to almost of the same games on gaming systems you currently own — and soon, you won't need a gaming organisation at all.

Xbox Series X games and the Xbox ecosystem

The Xbox Series X is 1 place to play all the latest and greatest Microsoft games. But, at the moment, so are the Xbox I and the PC. Instead of exclusive titles, the Serial 10 launched with a list of 30 "optimized" games, from Gears 5 to Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Some of these games are from outset-political party Microsoft studios; others are from 3rd-party developers. But the common thread is that every single i of them is playable on an Xbox One, and about are besides playable on a PC, or even a PS4 or PS5.

There's no denying that the optimized games expect (and sometimes play) ameliorate on an Xbox Series X. But prettier graphics alone aren't really reason enough to run out and upgrade your system, particularly if you already have a 4K-capable Xbox One 10.

Furthermore, if you already have a state-of-the-fine art gaming PC, there'southward not much reason to go an Xbox Serial 10 at all. Microsoft has committed to releasing all of its sectional games on both Xbox and PC in the future. And while the Series X is a powerful organisation, y'all can already build something even stronger, specially if yous get your hands on a new graphics card from Nvidia'south RTX 3000 series or AMD'due south Radeon RX 6000 lineup.

However, the truth of the thing is that you don't have to buy individual Xbox games at all. Thanks to the ever-expanding Xbox Game Pass, you tin download more a hundred games — including every starting time-party Microsoft game, on the day it comes out — for a apartment monthly fee.

What'southward more: If you spring for the $15-per-calendar month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, yous're non express to downloading games for powerful consoles or PCs; you can also stream games directly to Android phones and tablets. This functionality is still in beta, but Microsoft volition expand it next twelvemonth to both iOS and Web browsers.

The "Web browsers" fleck is especially important, as information technology means you'll be able to play Xbox games on a full-size PC screen, even if all your computer has just enough processing power to run Chrome. We can't say how well this feature might work at kickoff, or how long it will exist in beta, but it does essentially mean that an Xbox Series Ten could eventually become a totally optional part of the Xbox feel.

Xbox Serial Ten toll and exclusive games

Granted, Xbox Game Pass is just i part of what the Xbox Serial X offers, and isn't particularly useful for gamers who adopt to purchase titles à la carte. But information technology does reinforce the idea that Microsoft wants you lot to purchase the Series Ten whenever you feel like it — if y'all buy 1 at all. Once Game Pass streaming hits Spider web browsers and iOS, but near everyone with a continued gadget could accept admission to a big chunk of the Xbox library.

As such, the Xbox Series 10 will appeal primarily to core gamers with 4K HDR TVs, who adopt living-room gaming to a computer nook. And, based on how chop-chop the Xbox Series X sells out with every new restock, they're perfectly happy to pay $500 for the privilege. Since I don't think the Xbox Series X is going to have any kind of meaningful price drop in the next yr, it's not worth delaying your Xbox Serial X purchase to save money.

It'due south too worth considering when the Xbox Serial 10 will get some of its heady exclusive games, such as Halo Infinite, Fable iv, Hellblade Ii: Senua's Saga and Avowed. Many of these games don't have hard release dates, though, which means that your estimate is as proficient as mine as to when the Xbox Series X goes from "nice-to-have" to "indispensable."

Beyond that, I'chiliad not enlightened of any large feature updates that Microsoft has planned for the Xbox Serial X. So the overall experience isn't likely to be much better at the end of 2021 than it is at the shut of 2020. For improve or worse, the Xbox Series 10 looks to be a much more consistent console than the PS5, and that means you can pretty much purchase information technology whenever.

Outlook: When to buy Xbox Series 10

At the chance of giving a non-answer, if you want an Xbox Series X, you should buy it whenever you lot can find one. And if you lot don't desire one that badly, you may not need ane for a long time, if ever. The games you'll desire to play volition be available on other systems, and via methods other than just ownership them one at a time. The Serial X is a useful, but not necessary, component to the wider Xbox ecosystem.

As far as when Xbox Series X consoles will be easy to find, that's anyone'southward guess. Historically, if a console launches in Nov, its stocks stabilize somewhere betwixt late January and late March. However, 2021 is at present in full swing, and the arrangement is still nowhere to be found. According to AMD, supplies might non stabilize until this summer, or even later. You lot might just have to agree out until and then.

Withal, if you lot can manage to find an Xbox Serial X, information technology's worth picking up. You may not become to play whatsoever true exclusive titles, only at least you'll play the games you lot already own with absolutely gorgeous graphics and performance.

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site'due south coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you can detect him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi.