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Everything You Need to Know About the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition
Microsoft has just added another member to the ever-expanding Xbox One family. The long-rumored Xbox One S All-Digital Edition.
Yep, it’s a bit of a mouthful, which is why many have already taken to calling it the Xbox One SAD. Pun intended or not, it’s received a bit of a mixed reception from fans the world over ahead of its release on 7 May 2019.
While Sony has started revealing tidbits about its upcoming next-generation console, Microsoft is hanging back a bit and sticking to the Xbox One news for now. But rumours are flying wild about a certain “Project Scarlet” that’s in the works anyway.
There’s still no concrete news about Microsoft’s plans for their next-generation console, but for now, we have the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition to talk about. So let’s get to that.
What’s inside the box?
While some might have been expecting an upgrade in the system specs department, all Microsoft really did was remove the disc drive. Yes, that’s really it.
The console will feature a standard 1TB hard drive and match the Xbox One S specs in every way. Outside, the “Robot White” box looks pretty much the same too, except a little bit sleeker with the missing disc drive slot.
This strategy of releasing mini upgrades for their consoles during the mid-generational cycle has been working very well for both PlayStation and Xbox. Which is why this announcement really doesn’t come as much of a surprise. However, many don’t see the need for this model and they might be right. It doesn’t add much for existing Xbox fans. That said, it will probably still be very appealing to those who are looking to buy an Xbox and are only interested in playing digital games. Especially at its low price point.
The cheapest member of the family
According to Microsoft, the suggested retail price for the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is $250, putting it at $50 lower than the Xbox One S and making it the cheapest Xbox console of this generation. Prices in this region are TBC, but at the moment an Xbox One S with one game is around AED 1,250 in the United Arab Emirates.
Of course, that’s subjective to changes as the One S has had discounts from retailers that put it well under that price mark. But Microsoft said in a press release that “we expect to maintain at least that price difference between the two consoles going forward”. So this might mean that we can expect the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition to go on sale as well whenever the Xbox One S does.
Some digital perks
Microsoft is sweetening the deal with this new model through digital codes and an Xbox Game Pass subscription at a greatly discounted price of $1 for three months. Again, it is as yet not clear how this will work out in the GC/MENA region.
The Xbox S All-Digital Model will release with three digital game codes, including ‘Forza Horizon 3’, ‘Minecraft’, and ‘Sea of Thieves’. A great deal for new buyers as these are some of the most popular games on the platform and separately they rack up to around $119.97 if bought digitally.
And finally...
Along with the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition news, Microsoft also announced that they’re combining their social networking service (Xbox Live Gold) and Xbox Game Pass into one. The new service, called Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, will go for $14.99 per month when it’s released later this year.
The Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is now open for pre-order in the US. Official UAE retailers, meanwhile, can be found here.
