This story is part of Holiday Gift Guide 2020, CNET’s gift picks with expert advice, reviews and recommendations for the latest tech gifts for you and your family.
Attention, Xbox fans: The $500 Xbox Series X (along with the $300 Xbox Series S, its less powerful little brother) was officially released on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The gamers of the world can now buy the new console that Microsoft touts as having “four times the processing power of the Xbox One.” It also delivers backward compatibility with the vast majority of Xbox One games (everything that’s not a Kinect title), and even some Xbox 360 and original Xbox titles. The problem? As anyone who’s been trying to get a new Xbox — or a new PS5 — knows, they’ve been nearly impossible to find since preorders started in September.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Unlike Sony, which conducted an online-only launch for the PS5, Microsoft stocked the shelves both online and in stores. But as you scour the web and brick-and-mortar stores for inventory, temper your expectations: They’re nowhere to be found, and it doesn’t look like it’s getting any better: Microsoft is now saying that Xbox inventory could be tight through April 2021.
With one exception, that is: Walmart, a retailer fond of using Twitter for this sort of thing, has tweeted that there will be inventory available on Thursday, Nov. 19.
‼️ Next Gen update ‼️ We’ll have more #PS5 & #XboxSeriesX available ONLINE only on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 3 PM ET. 🎉
— Walmart (@Walmart) November 18, 2020
Our friends at GameSpot have managed to fill in a few additional details. According to GameSpot, both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will be available on Thursday. As the tweet says, this will be online only, and you should be waiting at your browser at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET to try to snag a console of your own.
Of course, it’s likely that Walmart will sell out very quickly and we expect to see the same kind of website instability that Walmart experienced on launch day. But if you want an Xbox, this is likely your last chance before Black Friday.
If you still want to try your luck, here’s a list of the major retailers selling the Xbox Series X. Our advice is to seek out the $500 retail price, and avoid those pricey retailer bundles (that include extraneous controllers, accessories and games).
Best Buy was the last retailer standing back in the preorder days of September, but now stands ready for your Xbox Series X purchase as inventory allows.
Amazon is selling the Xbox Series X and the less expensive Series S from this same product page.
Walmart does a solid job of noting availability windows for PS5 and Xbox on its Twitter feed, which is currently indicating that there will be consoles available on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET.
You might also want to visit the retailer’s Xbox landing page for both new consoles.
GameStop had touted “very limited number of Xbox Series X and S console bundles for purchase” but those are currently sold out.
This is Target’s product page for the Xbox Series X.
This is where you can purchase the Xbox Series X at Newegg when the retailer has inventory.
If you want to get the latest on the Xbox Series X, there’s probably nowhere better than Microsoft’s own Xbox Series X home page. Here you’ll find the latest specs, announced game titles, details on the new controller and more.
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