The Xbox Series S was previously revealed as Microsoft’s cheaper alternative to Series X. Despite being a fraction of the Series X’s $499 price tag at only $299, the console has been widely criticized for its lack of storage and lower processing power. Now, the Series S is getting even more flack after it was confirmed that extra storage will cost almost as much as the next-gen console itself.
Earlier in September, a source who allegedly works for GameStop posted on an Xbox Series X subreddit claiming that a 1TB upgrade would cost $219.99. That leak has now been confirmed, as Microsoft has announced its 1 TB official Xbox Series X/S Storage Expansion Card, being produced exclusively by Seagate. The price, as predicted, is $219.99. The external storage card was designed specifically for the next-gen consoles and will plug directly into a port for easy expansion.
The price of the external card is pretty jarring, given that the Xbox Series S is priced at $299, meaning the additional storage is almost the exact amount as the console itself. But given that the Series S is notorious for its lack of storage, with only 512 GB available, many owners of this model may find themselves having to invest in the additional storage. The Xbox Series X has 1TB of storage built-in and is priced at $499, but with the expansion card being almost half the price of that console, buying additional storage may seem like a major hindrance for Series S owners.
How Xbox’s Next-Gen Hardware Increased The Price
There's good reason for the card's expensive price, and it has to do with the fact that the hard drive is a custom storage solution made specifically for the next-gen console’s revolutionary technology. While current consoles feature HHDs, the next-gen models come with custom SSDs. As such, they require a custom storage solution in order to ensure the external drive runs at the same speed as the internal SS (that being 2.4 GB/s), hence why gamers need an entirely new cartridge if they want more space. So, while Solid State Drives can be pretty expensive, in general, the custom storage solution that was necessitated by the next-gen console’s hardware explains the hefty price for additional storage.
Granted, gamers won’t need to invest in the official Storage Expansion Card to enjoy their next-gen console. The next-gen Xbox consoles will also feature a USB port so players could add a traditional external drive should they choose. Be warned, however, that next-gen games have to be installed on the internal SSD or the Storage Expansion Card due to speed requirements of the consoles. Either way, for players who don’t want to be bothered with constantly downloading and deleting games, then it’s likely that they will want to consider investing in additional storage for the Xbox Series S or even Series X.