Halfway through the current console generation's life cycle the original Xbox One is being shelved in favour of the Xbox One S and X variants of Microsoft's gaming machine. At the same time, the company is boasting with record pre-order numbers for the beefier Xbox One X.
The original Xbox One can no longer be purchased off Microsoft's online store. Instead of the usual Add to cart button, the console's page now reads Out of stock. The slim version of the same console - the Xbox One S, and the mid-generation power up edition - Xbox One X, will be replacing the phased out model for the remainder of this life cycle.
Microsoft
The Xbox One has been outperformed by its chief competitor, the PlayStation 4 by a 2:1 ratio on the sales front, but solid figures are still hard to come by.
On a more positive note, the Xbox One X is registering a record number of pre-orders for a Microsoft console, the company has . It is already listed as sold out with many retailers including . Of course, Microsoft aren't saying how many of the devices have been pre-ordered, and a pre-order doesn't necessarily translate to an actual sale.
Going for just shy of £500 the world's most powerful console will release on 7 November 2017 - just in time for the year's holiday shopping lists.
Microsoft
Either way, the only scenario in which Microsoft will provide some timely sales figures is the one in which the console breaks some sales records, as the marketing/PR hype is currently still gaining momentum. Whether the Xbox One X can shift the console arms race in Microsoft's direction, after its lacklustre performance so far remains to be seen.
