It can be a bit hard to believe, but as of last week we are officially in a new generation of consoles. Both Sony and Microsoft launched three new systems in total, with the latter launching the Xbox Series X and Series S. The launch was said to be the biggest launch in the history of the brand. However, for those hungry and willing to jump in, it may not feel that way as pre-orders were chaotic and went fast, and there was almost no real launch stock to speak of. Well, it may not be of any consolidation, but Phil Spencer is sorry about that.
Speaking at GlitchCon, Spencer spoke about the situation. He apologized to those who were unable to get either a Series X or Series S. He points to the craziness of 2020, as everyone well knows, and says that the demand was simply too high to keep up.
“The number one request I get over and over is, ‘it’s so hard to get the consoles right now’, and you know I really apologize for that,” he said. “I mean, we’ve been building them for almost two months now and trying to get as many into the stores as we can, but the demand is just so high.”
“But it’s been great,” he continued. “The developers did amazing jobs. I mean, this is just a crazy, crazy year with all kinds of obstacles to getting games done and a platform done, so just kudos to all the teams, both Sony and us, and everybody in third-parties for getting what we’ve been able to get done, done, it’s just been fantastic.”
Unfortunately, Microsoft has signaled that the shortage could last well into the second quarter of 2021, so I doubt a lot of people who are craving either of the new Xboxs will realistically be able to get them for a good while. The current, ongoing COVID outbreak disrupted things in Asia, where most of the consoles are manufactured, so it’s something of a minor miracle we got them at all this year, it feels like. A shame that many did not manage to get one, but with some patience, more stock will come in time.