UPDATE 4pm UK: Microsoft has now confirmed UK pricing for its official Series X/S 1TB expandable storage – and it’s £220. Pre-orders are now live via the Microsoft Store.
The company has also posted a Q&A blog on the external storage option, which goes through much of what we already reported below.
A couple of interesting points jumped out. I’ve seen criticism of the SSD’s cost – and suggestion it undermines the low price point of Xbox Series S which only has a 512GB SSD.
So, why does the 1TB Storage Expansion Card cost £220/$220? Here’s a response from Microsoft’s Jason Ronald:
“The Xbox Velocity Architecture is a key innovation of our next generation consoles, delivering unprecedented speed and performance enabling transformative gaming experiences never before possible on console. This level of consistent, sustained performance requires advanced components which comes at a higher cost than traditional hard drives or SSDs often found in PCs. By partnering with an industry leader in Seagate, we worked together to deliver an expandable storage solution which delivers identical performance at the lowest cost possible and available this holiday.”