Honestly, it feels like forever ago, but at the same time, I remember the chaos of that morning like it was yesterday. If you're trying to pin down exactly when was xbox series s released, the date you're looking for is November 10, 2020.
But that’s just a date on a calendar. The actual "vibe" of that launch was something else entirely. We were in the thick of a global pandemic. Supply chains were a mess. Most of us were stuck at home, desperately needing a distraction, and Microsoft dropped this tiny, white, speaker-looking box that promised next-gen gaming for three hundred bucks. It was a weird, bold move.
The Day the Tiny Giant Landed
The global rollout on November 10, 2020, wasn't just for the Series S. It launched alongside its big, beefy brother, the Xbox Series X. While everyone was fighting over the "fridge" (the Series X) and the "router" (the PS5), the Series S sort of slipped into living rooms almost unnoticed.
Except it wasn't unnoticed for long. It sold out instantly.
In mainland China, the release took a bit longer, finally hitting shelves on June 10, 2021. But for the rest of the world, that November Tuesday in 2020 marked the start of a very strange console generation where the "weaker" machine often ended up being the only one you could actually find in a store.
Why the Series S Launch Was a Gamble
Most console launches are about "more." More power. More pixels. More teraflops. Microsoft decided to go the other way. They bet on accessibility.
Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, actually talked about this quite a bit. He predicted that while the Series X would sell out to the hardcore fans on day one, the Series S would be the long-term winner because of the price. At $299 (£249 / €299), it was significantly cheaper than anything else on the market.
The Specs That Surprised People
People were skeptical. How could something that small keep up? Here is the basic breakdown of what was inside that little shell at launch:
- CPU: 8-Core AMD Zen 2 (basically the same as the Series X, just slightly slower).
- GPU: 4 TFLOPS of RDNA 2 power.
- RAM: 10GB GDDR6.
- Storage: 512GB Custom NVMe SSD (the real bottleneck, let’s be real).
It targeted 1440p resolution at 60 frames per second, though, in reality, a lot of games ended up running at 1080p. But it had the "Velocity Architecture." That meant loading times were nearly identical to the $500 machines. If you were coming from an Xbox One, the difference was night and day. No more five-minute waits to load into GTA V.
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The "Secret" Reveal
The way Microsoft officially announced the console was actually kind of hilarious. They didn't do a big, flashy stage show at first. For months, there were leaks about a "Project Lockhart." Then, in July 2020, Phil Spencer did an interview from his home office.
The Series S was literally sitting on his bookshelf behind him the whole time.
Nobody noticed. It was so small that people just thought it was a book or a piece of white plastic. They didn't officially "reveal" it until September 8, 2020, after a massive leak forced their hand. They just tweeted: "Let’s make it official."
It Wasn't All Sunshine and Rainbows
If you've followed gaming news recently, you know the Series S has been a bit of a lightning rod for controversy. Developers have occasionally complained about the "S" holding back the generation.
Take Baldur’s Gate 3, for example. Larian Studios famously struggled to get split-screen co-op working on the Series S, which actually delayed the Xbox release of the 2023 Game of the Year. Microsoft eventually had to let them ship the game without that feature on the smaller console.
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And then there’s the storage. That 512GB SSD? After the system takes its cut, you’re left with maybe 360GB. In a world where Call of Duty is the size of a small moon, that was a problem. Microsoft eventually addressed this by releasing a 1TB "Carbon Black" version in September 2023 for $349, but early adopters are still stuck juggling deletes and installs or buying those pricey expansion cards.
Where Does It Stand Now?
Fast forward to today. It's 2026. The landscape has shifted dramatically.
Console sales for this generation have started to slow down, and we've seen some pretty significant price hikes across the board. In 2025, the price of the Series S actually went up in several markets—a rarity for a five-year-old console. As of mid-2024, the Series X and S combined had sold around 28.3 million units. While that’s behind the PS5, the Series S remains the "gateway drug" for Game Pass.
Honestly, if you're looking to jump into the Xbox ecosystem now, the Series S is still a solid "budget" pick, but only if you aren't obsessed with 4K. It’s the perfect "indie game machine" or a dedicated Roblox / Fortnite box for the kids.
Actionable Tips for New Owners:
- Buy a storage expansion, but wait for a sale. The Seagate or Western Digital cards are essential, but they are frequently $50 off during holiday sales.
- Don't buy physical discs. I know it sounds obvious, but the Series S has no disc drive. If you find a cheap copy of Elden Ring at a garage sale, it’s useless to you.
- Use "Instant-On" mode sparingly. It’s great for fast booting, but with electricity prices being what they are in 2026, the energy-saving mode is much better for your wallet.
- Check for "Optimized for Series S/X" badges. Not every old game gets the boost, so look for that logo in the store to make sure you're getting those fast load times.
The Xbox Series S might not be the powerhouse people dreamed of in 2020, but its release changed the conversation about what a "next-gen" console has to be. It proved that for a lot of people, "good enough" performance at a "really good" price is a winning formula.