Xbox Series X and S pre-orders: When and where they’ll be available
Pre-orders for the Xbox Series X and S will begin on Tuesday, September 22. Here’s where they’ll be available.
Hoping to avoid a fiasco similar to what went down with PlayStation 5 pre-orders, Microsoft seems to have a much more organized plan when it comes to its own next-gen console. While pre-orders for the PlayStation 5 were a free-for-all with retailers randomly making them available, Microsoft has a specific day in which you’ll be able to begin pre-ordering the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
That day is Tuesday, September 22 for those in the United States, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Here are the specific times and retailers where you’ll be able to pre-order the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S:
- United States (8AM PT): Microsoft Store, Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart, Target, Sam’s Club, Newegg, and other participating retailers
- Canada (8AM PT): Microsoft Store, Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, EB Games, The Source, and other participating retailers
- UK (8AM BST): Microsoft Store, GAME, Amazon, Dixons, Currys PC World, Argos, John Lewis, Smyths Toys, VERY, AO, Tesco, Simply Game, Shopto and other participating retailers
- Australia (8AM AEST): Microsoft Store, JB Hifi, EB Games, Telstra, Harvey Norman, and other participating retailers
- New Zealand (8AM NZST): Microsoft Store, JB HiFi, EB Games, Spark, and other participating retailers
It’s a little vaguer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa where Microsoft says you’ll be able to pre-order online starting at 9AM CEST at the Microsoft Store, Amazon, MediaMarkt, GameStop, FNAC, Elkjøp/Elgiganten and other participating retailers. However, availability and participating retailers may vary from country to country.
There’s also a separate pre-order option for the Xbox All Access program which is essentially a financial option where you pay monthly over the span of two years for the Xbox console and access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with no upfront cost. Pre-orders for the Xbox All Access program will be offered in the following countries and retailers on September 22:
- United States (8AM PT): Best Buy, GameStop, Microsoft Store, and Walmart
- Australia (8AM AEST): Telstra
- New Zealand (8AM NZST): Spark
- UK (8AM BST): GAME and Smyths Toys
- Denmark (9AM CEST): Elgiganten
- Finland (9AM CEST): Gigantti
- Norway (9AM CEST): Elkjøp
- Sweden (9AM CEST): Elgiganten
Unfortunately, pre-orders with Xbox All Access will not be available on September 22 in Canada, France, Poland and South Korea; however, it will be offered at some point before the consoles launch this holiday season.
As a reminder, the Xbox Series X, which is dubbed the most powerful gaming console ever, will be priced at $499 while the less powerful Xbox Series S will be priced at $299. You can see a full breakdown of each system’s specs here.
Next. PS5 vs Xbox Series X: Price, release date and specs compared. dark
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Overall, it sounds like Microsoft has a pretty solid plan for pre-ordering but we all know how this sort of thing goes. One retailer messes up the time and then suddenly all chaos ensues. Or there’s a mad rush once pre-orders become available and the sites crash or they sell out immediately. Of course, that’s assuming there’s a high demand for the Xbox Series X or S.
We don’t really have any insight into the production of the Xbox Series X or S in terms of how many will be available. We know there were reports of Sony running into production issues with the PlayStation 5 which could have played a part in the consoles selling out so quickly — even though Sony denied those reports. Or maybe there was just a really high demand for the PS5.
It sounds like Microsoft isn’t having these same reported production woes so if there is an issue with pre-ordering it will be likely due to demand. Do you plan on purchasing an Xbox Series X or S?