Xbox Series X is the name of Xbox Project Scarlett: here's everything we know

Xbox Series X is the name of the next-generation Xbox, previously known by its semi-codename Xbox Project Scarlett

This bombshell announcement came out of left field at the Game Awards 2019, and now we know the new console will be coming in Holiday 2020. It all started like a game announcement, and we here at TechRadar definitely weren't expecting it to turn into a new hardware announcement. 

After a mysterious little trailer, we got to see the Xbox Series X in all of its blocky glory, and don't worry: it still has a disc drive. However, the new Xbox Series X kind of looks like a little gaming PC, which makes us wonder what kind of hardware is inside.

As for what kind of Xbox Series X games we can expect when the new console launches, Phil Spencer took the stage to talk about that. Games will be “More lifelike, immersive and surprising” and that the Xbox Series X will “lead us into the future of gaming”. He also stated that 15 Xbox Game Studios are building a huge library. And, while we didn't get to hear about nearly all of these games, we did get a bizarre trailer for Hellblade II Senua's Saga.

And of course, with a new console comes a new controller. 

The next generation Xbox Wireless Controller will apparently be more accessible to everyone, as Microsoft has made an effort to refine the size and shape. This shouldn't be too surprising to anyone that's been following the tech giant, as it's been making waves for accessibility in gaming for a while now. Along with enhanced accessibility, we'll also be getting a dedicated share button (finally) that will let you share screenshots and videos with your friends.

We're sure we'll hear more about pricing at a later date – but we may be waiting until E3 2020. 

But, what's inside?

We still don't know the exact Xbox Series X specs, or how much it will cost, but we can piece together a bit of information. 

We've known for a while that Xbox Project Scarlett – now Xbox Series X – would be packed with an AMD Zen 2 processor, like the Ryzen 5 3600, but we still don't know what that chip will look like. Likewise, we know the GPU will be based on the AMD RDNA graphics architecture that premiered with AMD Navi back in July. But again, we don't know what it will be capable of, beyond that it'll have some hardware ray tracing functionality. 

According to Microsoft's page for the Xbox Series X, the Redmond tech giant is doubling down on it including a super fast SSD that will “virtually eliminate load times.” SSDs are becoming cheaper by the day, so it's starting to become more believable, but we still doubt it will be as fast as Microsoft is implying, but we'll have to wait and see. 

Microsoft is still apparently targeting the ability to play games natively at 4K 60 fps, and with how thicc the console appears to be, we can expect whatever hardware is inside to be packing some serious heat. We just hope Microsoft spills the beans on the actual hardware inside the retail package soon, because we're dying of curiosity. 

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