Microsoft's next-gen Xbox, once-codenamed Project Scarlett, is officially called Xbox Series X, and looks more like a PC than past consoles

Xbox now looks like a PC — Microsoft's next-generation Xbox is officially called Xbox Series X. Microsoft revealed the name and console design on stage at the Game Awards today.

The Verge 2019-12-13 Tom Warren

Context & Ripple Effects

The naming closes out a year-long tease: back in June, Microsoft framed Project Scarlett as a Fall 2020 machine promising 8K output and four times the power of the Xbox One X. Today's Game Awards reveal converts that codename into a shipping product identity — Xbox Series X, on stage as a monolithic tower that borrows PC case language rather than the horizontal set-top form of prior generations.

The PC-like design is more than styling. It lands mid-arc for a company pushing the console toward holiday 2020 with 120 fps support and ray tracing, and it reads in hindsight as the first visible step of a convergence that Microsoft's own future leadership would make explicit years later when gaming CEO Asha Sharma teased Project Helix as a box that plays both Xbox and PC games.

First-order effects

Microsoft now has a public name, silhouette, and holiday 2020 window for its flagship, giving developers a fixed performance target — up to 120 fps and hardware ray tracing — to build against for launch titles.
Sony enters 2020 facing a rival whose marketing frame is 'console that looks like a high-end PC,' forcing PlayStation 5 positioning to answer on raw spec rather than ecosystem exclusivity alone.

Second-order effects

A tiered lineup was already forming underneath the flagship: a leaked Microsoft document pointed to a cheaper, less powerful sibling carrying Series X improvements to a lower price point, splitting the market between premium and entry hardware.
A PC-styled, spec-forward Xbox strengthens Microsoft's hand in bundling hardware with subscription services, since a device that blurs into the Windows ecosystem makes Game Pass-style access the differentiator rather than the box itself.

Third-order effects

If the pattern holds, the console stops being a distinct product category: Microsoft's trajectory from the Series X's PC-like chassis to a next-gen machine pitched as running Xbox and PC games alike points toward one shared game platform with multiple hardware price points.
That structure shifts competition from exclusive discs to services and storefront reach — the durable battleground where whoever controls the subscription layer captures value regardless of which box is plugged in.

The trend: Home consoles are converging with the PC as branded hardware tiers atop a single subscription-and-storefront platform, with Microsoft moving fastest along that path.

Discussion

Xbox Wire Xbox Wire on x
Power Your Dreams with Xbox Series X, Available Holiday 2020
@viticci Federico Viticci on x
I don't like the name. But the tower design is growing on me in its own weirdness, I love the approach to backward compatibility, and performance sounds wild. https://twitter.com/...
@jetscott Scott Stein on x
My thought this morning exactly. I've started to realize how much it resembles a square original Echo https://twitter.com/...
@agentbizzle Brian Altano on x
I love the design/specs of the new Xbox Series X. Not wild about the name (it will grow on me like every weird console name has) but I'm confident that Microsoft is gonna do great things next generation. Definitely getting one on day one (along with a PlayStation 5, of course!) h…
@crecenteb @crecenteb on x
All consoles are basically PCs. The change here is that the new design seems to be echoing cloud hardware (Alexa etc...) and not outdated media players (DVD, VHS etc) https://twitter.com/...
@tamoorh Tamoor Hussain on x
If you want more info on Xbox Series X @GameSpot has the exclusive info and interview. Check it out https://www.gamespot.com/...
@nuttybluerice @nuttybluerice on x
How the hell am I supposed to fit that thing under my TV?! https://twitter.com/...
@cyberbeaner @cyberbeaner on x
whoever took the box in the name XBOX too literal needs to be fired. this taking up more mass idea ain't it. https://twitter.com/...
@jeffrubenstein Jeff Rubenstein on x
Want to know more about Xbox Series X? We have a thing: https://news.xbox.com/...
@klobrille @klobrille on x
The name Series X also indicates that there might be other series of next-gen Xbox consoles in the future. Phil: “Obviously, in the name ‘Series X’, it gives us freedom to do other things with that name so that we can create descriptors when we need to.” https://www.gamespot.com/…
@loudmouthjulia Julia Alexander on x
I for one am glad that we finally have an official x console in this Xbox line instead of all those other yboxes Microsoft keeps trying to sell! https://twitter.com/...
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
the worst thing about Xbox Series X is the name. Microsoft's marketing department is obsessed with using X right now: • Surface Pro X • Surface Hub 2X • Windows 10X • Xbox Series X do they all own an iPhone X or something? 🥴
@duckomcfli HeyMcfli on x
So the new Xbox is just a cpu? I'm so confused 🤔🤔 https://twitter.com/...

Chronicles