It’s likely due to the recently launched Xbox and PlayStation versions of the 2021 action RPG. Along with featuring all Title Updates for the base game and collaboration DLC, Monster Hunter Rise runs in 4K/60 FPS and 120 FPS on Xbox Series X and PS5. It even takes advantage of DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers for a more immersive experience.

Monster Hunter Rise’s expansion, Sunbreak, will release this Spring for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PS5. It’s currently available for Nintendo Switch and PC and will receive Title Update 4 on February 7th. The free update adds Velkhana, an Elder Dragon from Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, and Risen Crimson Glow Valstrax, among other new features.

Monster Hunter Rise has now sold more than 12 million units worldwide, and we couldn't have done it without you – our amazing Hunters!

Thank you all so much for your incredible support and passion, we know Kamura is in safe hands with you! #MHRise pic.twitter.com/BSpFqkajFZ

— Monster Hunter (@monsterhunter) February 3, 2023

Monster Hunter Rise is the story of Kamura Village, which prepares to face a horde of berserk monsters known as the Rampage. As a Hunter, your job is to stop the Rampage and investigate its cause, going up against the mysterious Magnamalo and other threats. The Xbox Series X and PS5 versions run at 4K/60 FPS and offer a 120 FPS mode, while the Xbox Series S version runs at 1440p resolution.

For details on other platforms, head here. Almost all post-launch updates are included, allowing players can undertake new Event Quests and Collaboration Quests featuring Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man, Street Fighter, and more. For more details on the PS5 version, check out our review here. Its expansion Sunbreak will release in Spring 2023.

Fortunately, Capcom has revealed the same. PS4, Xbox One and Xbox One S versions at 1920×1080 resolution. PS4 Pro and Xbox One X run at 3840×2160 resolution, the same as current-gen consoles. The Xbox Series S version runs at 2560×1440 resolution. For those experiencing it via PC Game Pass, there are graphics settings.

You’ll notice that except for Xbox Series X and PS5, the frame rate hasn’t been mentioned for any other platform. Capcom states, “Frame is variable depending on the gameplay situation.” Based on the hardware, you can prioritize frame rate or image quality, though it’s unknown whether Xbox One, PS4, Xbox One S and Xbox Series S get those options.

Monster Hunter Rise launches on January 20th for PlayStation and Xbox. For more details on what to expect, check out our feature. You can also read our review of the PC version.

Excited for the launch of #MHRise on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, Game Pass, PS5, and PS4? Read on below for some helpful info ahead of release on Jan 20! pic.twitter.com/553p11gqbk

— Monster Hunter (@monsterhunter) January 13, 2023

“To focus on production of Xbox Series X / S, we stopped production for all Xbox One consoles by the end of 2020,” said senior director of Xbox console product marketing Cindy Walker. While the move made sense at the time, it’s a somewhat different climate today. Shortages and excessive demand have reportedly led to Sony continuing to manufacture PS4 consoles after partners were previously told to stop assembly post-2021 (though it officially denies the same).

It doesn’t appear that supply is a big issue for Microsoft though. Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently said that, “Supply is actually as big as it’s ever been. It’s that demand is exceeding the supply for all of us. At this point, we’ve sold more of this generation of Xboxes, which is Xbox Series X and S, than we had any previous version of Xboxes.”

Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad estimated that over 12 million consoles have been shipped worldwide till date so focusing on the Xbox Series X/S seems to be the correct play. Time will tell how the coming year pans out so stay tuned.

The early years of the console were particularly troublesome. Microsoft started off on the wrong foot with the Xbox One’s reveal, positioning it as a media center for the home with heavy media requirements, an unnecessary focus on the Kinect, and not nearly enough focus on the one thing that mattered more than anything else- games.

Like the PS4, the Xbox One’s hardware wasn’t exactly cutting edge either. It was, in fact, weaker than its direct competitor, and yet it was a full $100 costlier than the PS4 at launch. Meanwhile, while Microsoft had with the Xbox 360 at least tried to get a foothold in Japan, with games such as Lost Odyssey, with the Xbox One, they pretty much gave up any and all pretenses, launching the console in the region nearly a year after its worldwide launch, and continuing to see abysmal sales to this day. Many major Japanese-developed games thus remained exclusive to PlayStation for a long time, including the likes of Yakuza, Nier Automata, and Dragon Quest. Others, such as Nioh and Persona are exclusive to this day.

None of these things worked in its favour, and other factors contributed to the Xbox One’s initial hurdles. The biggest of them all was a lack of exclusives, which is perhaps the thing that has hurt Microsoft more than anything else during this generation. Even during the Xbox 360 years, Microsoft had garnered a reputation as a studio that relied on a chosen few franchises – Halo, Gears of War, Forza, and Fable – but with the Xbox One, even that output floundered.

Under 343 Industries, Halo suffered the disastrous launch of The Master Chief Collection, and followed up on it with the most underwhelming game in the series, Halo 5. Under The Coalition, Gears returned with Gears of War 4, a solid game, but one that was criticized for playing things too safe, and that franchise, too, lost the luster it had held in the Xbox 360 years. Fable already had a lot to prove after the disappointing Fable 3 on the Xbox 360, but Fable Legends, after years of development, was cancelled, and Lionhead was shut down. Forza, at least, continued to move from strength to strength, with the Horizon games in particular being some of the best Microsoft has ever produced. 

There were other disappointing first party games as well. Ryse: Son of Rome set the tone early, Quantum Break was perhaps Remedy’s most inconsistent game, ReCore was a sore disappointment, and the less we say about Crackdown 3, the better. Meanwhile, PlatinumGames’ Scalebound was looking promising, but that, too, got cancelled. Sure, there were some bright spots, such as the Ori games, Sea of Thieves and its excellent post-launch support, Gears 5, the aforementioned Forza games, Sunset Overdrive, and the recently released Flight Simulator, but by and large, Xbox One’s first party support was disappointing, to say the very least. 

Around 2017 though, things started looking up for the Xbox One. Backward compatibility became something Microsoft started focusing on. Microsoft added the ability to play Xbox 360 and even various original Xbox games on the Xbox One, and promoted that heavily. 2017 also saw the launch of the Xbox One X, which was proudly declared (over and over) as the most powerful console ever (which it was, at the time). Its 4K capabilities were impressive, and even several backward compatible games benefited from Xbox One X enhancements. 

But of course, the biggest change that Microsoft introduced was Xbox Game Pass, which completely changed the face of the company, of Xbox, and redefined Microsoft’s approach to content development and how they would position themselves as a company, and Xbox as a platform. Xbox Game Pass launched in June 2017, and instantly saw great success. Since then, it has only moved from strength to strength. Its library of games is massive, and full of must-play titles from first parties and third parties alike, from major AAA developers and talented indie studios, ranging across various genres. All Microsoft first party games join the service’s catalog day and date, and so do various third party games. From day one, value for money was something Xbox Game Pass emphasized heavily, and it continues to do so to this day. 

By itself, Game Pass immediately turned the Xbox One into an immensely more attractive product. The ability to sign up for the service at surprisingly reasonable subscription prices and hop into a library of hundreds of compelling games right off the bat is something that almost makes up for the Xbox One’s disappointing first party support. Cheaper hardware SKUs such as the Xbox One S and the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition suddenly seemed like even more alluring products. 

Microsoft have, in fact, taken a lot of other positive steps in the last few years, and though they haven’t necessarily changed things for the Xbox One itself, they do hint at a promising future. After a flurry of acquisitions over the last few years, the Xbox Game Studios line boasts of nearly two dozen studios, which includes the likes of all of Bethesda, Obsidian Entertainment, Playground Games, Double Fine, Ninja Theory, The Coalition, and so many more. Whether or not the Xbox One will benefit from their output remains to be seen – it probably won’t – but things look bright for the Xbox Series X and S, at the very least. 

While the PS4 was a success for Sony from beginning to end, Microsoft experience with the Xbox One was much more tumultuous. It started out catastrophically, and continued to flounder for several more years, and arguably, even at the very end, it’s not exactly in the best shape possible. But in the second half of the Xbox One’s life, the sudden pivot in Microsoft’s approach to gaming, and in their approach to the industry as a whole, brought about lots of positive changes, with things such as backward compatibility, the Xbox One X, and Xbox Game Pass working together to improve things on the Xbox front significantly. 

It may not have been the incredible success Microsoft may have been hoping it would be, especially after what they enjoyed with the Xbox 360, but it’s clear that their initial failures with the Xbox One have defined what sort of a company are now, and what their approach to gaming is going to be in the future. If nothing else, the Xbox One has at least set the stage for what’s looking like a brighter future. 

Following up on a video highlighting the snappiness of Quick Resume on the console, Microsoft has released a load time comparison video for the Xbox Series S. Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds is showcased and the time taken to load in from the main menu is compared. Check it out below.

While the RPG requires requires about 53 seconds and change to load on the Xbox One S, it only takes 10 seconds or so on the Xbox Series S. It’s not surprising, considering the latter has a solid state drive. But it serves to highlight the difference in loading times for a game of this magnitude (and maybe it will encourage you to get an Xbox Series S to enjoy it on).

The Xbox Series S is out on November 10th for $299. It launches on the same day as the Xbox Series X, which will retail for $499. Pre-orders for both consoles will go live on September 22nd, with the exact time revealed here. Stay tuned for more details on the console’s features in the coming months.

At $299, the Xbox Series S offers incredible value for a next-gen console, but while it’s a very consumer-friendly price, the console’s specs – which are significantly lower than the Xbox Series X – have been concerning to many people. While it remains to be seen what effect exactly those deficiencies will have on next-gen games, we do know that backward compatible games running on the Xbox Series S will be affected.

Microsoft have confirmed following speculation regarding the same that the Xbox Series S won’t apply Xbox One X enhancements to backward compatible games (which makes sense, given that the console isn’t capable of rendering 4K resolutions). Instead, it will run the Xbox One S versions of backward compatible titles, while also adding its own previously confirmed enhancements, such as improved texture filtering, higher frame rates, and adding HDR to games that didn’t originally have it at launch.

“Xbox Series S was designed to be the most affordable next generation console and play next generation games at 1440p at 60 FPS,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to Gamespew. “To deliver the highest quality backwards compatible experience consistent with the developer’s original intent, the Xbox Series S runs the Xbox One S version of backward compatible games while applying improved texture filtering, higher and more consistent frame rates, faster load times and Auto HDR.”

Microsoft have previously said that they have prioritized faster frame rates over resolution with the Xbox Series S (which is allegedly capable of up to 120 FPS gameplay), so as disappointing as this might be to many, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise. 4K wouldn’t have been possible on the Series S anyway, and it’s worth noting that the console will still be adding enhancements of its own.

For more on Xbox Series S and its specs, make sure to read our recent in-depth tech analysis of the console’s hardware through here.

SHEER RAW POWER

The Xbox One was at a distinct disadvantage in terms of raw numbers and power when compared to the PS4, but with the Xbox One X, Microsoft turned things around. Currently, the Xbox One X is the most powerful console on the market, and with the Xbox Series X, Microsoft are keeping that going. Both the PS5 and Xbox Series X have their own unique benefits over one another, of course, but in terms of raw power, the next Xbox is still going to be the most powerful console on the market. Now, let’s talk about some of the console’s specs.

CPU

Like the PS4, the Xbox One’s CPU wasn’t exactly the most impressive when the console launched in 2013, running on an 8 core 1.75 GHz Jaguar CPU. The Xbox One X was a step up over that, with an 8 core 2.3 GHz CPU. With the Xbox Series X, the CPU sees a much bigger jump, with a 3.8 GHz (or 3.6 without SMT) 8-core Zen 2 CPU.

GPU

With the GPU, the Xbox Series X represents an even more significant jump than with the CPU. The Xbox One launched with 1.23 TFLOPs GPU with 12 CUs, and the Xbox One X was a major step-up with a 6 TFLOPs GPU of 40 CUs. Then there’s the Xbox Series X, with a massive 12.16 TFLOPs GPU with 52 compute units, each running at 1.82 GHz.

RAM

The Xbox Series X also boasts a significantly improved RAM over the Xbox One X and especially the base Xbox One. In 2013, the console launched with an 8 GB DDR3 RAM, while the Xbox One X entered the market with a 12 GB GDDR5 RAM. The Xbox Series X, meanwhile, boasts of a 16 GB GDDR6 RAM, divided into two separate pools. There’s a 10 GB pool with bandwidth of 560 GB/s, while the remaining 6 GB has a bandwidth of 336 GB/s.

NO MORE ESRAM

With the Xbox One, Microsoft decided to go with a DDR3 RAM, which has slow enough data transfer rates that it can be a bottleneck for many kinds of modern games. To compensate for that, Microsoft threw in embedded static RAM, or eSRAM – because eSRAM can provide far faster transfer rates than regular DDR3 RAM. But with the Xbox One X having moved to GDDR5 for its RAM, which has faster transfer rates by itself, there’s no longer any need to have the complications that come with having eSRAM on top of your dynamic RAM. So, Series X doesn’t have it, while the original Xbox One did – and that’s down to Microsoft’s commitment to use the best possible hardware for their console this time around.

SSD

The SSD is one of the biggest advancements the next generation of consoles is bringing with it. And while the Xbox Series X doesn’t have an SSD as impressive as the one found in the PS5, it’s no slouch either. Its 1 TB NVMe SSD has a raw bandwidth of 2.4 GB/s and a compressed bandwidth of 5.5 GB/s, which should allow developers to do some exciting things with next-gen games.

VELOCITY ARCHITECTURE

The Velocity Architecture is something that Microsoft are banking on hard with the Xbox Series X. But what is it exactly? Essentially a blanket term for multiple different techniques, the Velocity Architecture collectively should prove to be a huge boon not only for data streaming in terms of speed and efficiency, but also have positive effects on the CPU and the SSD.

RAY TRACING

Given how ray tracing has become more and more common in PC games these last few years, it was sort of a given that next-gen consoles would also want a piece of that pie- which they do indeed. Just like the PS5, the Xbox Series X is capable of hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and we’re quite excited to see what that does for visuals and lighting in next-gen games.

QUICK RESUME

This might not be something that has a tangible impact on game design the way the Xbox Series X’s impressive spec list does, but it’s a feature that should still introduce more ease of use than anything we’ve seen in consoles up until now. Suspending multiple games and softwares and then being able to resume them immediately might not sound like a big thing, but it’s a neat feature that we’re glad to see in the Xbox Series X.

CONTROLLER

As far as the controller is concerned, Microsoft aren’t making a great many changes with the Xbox Series X – certainly not as many as the DualSense is – but it’s still introducing some iterative tweaks and improvements. The d-pad now bears a cross design on top of a plate of sorts, latency is supposedly being cut down thanks to something Microsoft are calling Dynamic Latency Input, while the controller will also feature a tactile dot pattern on the triggers and bumpers.

SHARE BUTTON

The biggest new feature in the Xbox Series X’s new controller is the share button- finally, right? The Xbox One was clearly lacking in this one area, an omission that was made that much more glaring thanks to the DualShock 4’s share button, but the Xbox Series X is finally catching up. Having a share button is not a revolutionary new addition by any means, but it’s a good feature to have nonetheless.

SMART DELIVERY

Microsoft already made significant strides with cross-buying with their Play Anywhere program, and they’re doing something similar with the Xbox Series X’s Smart Delivery, which will essentially allow you to upgrade to next-gen versions of cross-gen games without having to buy those versions individually. Microsoft seem committed to it with their first party efforts, as do many third party publishers. Of course, if standard prices of games do end up increasing with next-gen, it’ll be interesting to see what impact that will have on Smart Delivery.

POWER CONSUMPTION

All that impressive tech and hardware in the Xbox Series X is going to have some unavoidable side-effects- such as the console having much greater power consumption than the Xbox One or Xbox One X. This isn’t something that Microsoft have officially said much about yet, but reports peg the Xbox Series X’s power consumption at up to 300 watts, which is a big jump over the Xbox One X’s 170 watts. Presumably, the Xbox Series X’s monolithic tower design will help with heat management a great deal.

LAUNCHING WITH HALO

This is probably the biggest notch in the Xbox Series X’s favour. Microsoft and Xbox both entered the market with Halo: Combat Evolved, a game that immediately shot their popularity through the roof, and though Halo doesn’t have the sort cache it did back then, the fact that the Xbox Series X is launching with a new Halo game is still a big deal. Unlike the Xbox One, the Series X has a massive game in its launch lineup that should presumably prove to be a big boost for the console- though some of that might be offset by the fact that the game will also be available on Xbox One and PC.

FIRST PARTY SUPPORT

First party support is an area where Xbox has been lacking for a long, long time, but with the Xbox Series X, the future is looking much brighter. Over the last couple of years, Microsoft have gone on a spending spree, and their portfolio of first party studios is now seriously impressive, with a potential to deliver excellent games across so many genres. They’ve already started revealing many of those, and while it remains to be seen whether they will live up to the hype, for the first time in many years, things are looking up for first party support on Xbox.

Yesterday, reports were coming in about various Xbox One models being discontinued. Microsoft has now officially confirmed that production of the Xbox One X and Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is being discontinued. A spokesperson for the company told The Verge that this was a “natural step” en route to the launch of the Xbox Series X.

“As we ramp into the future with Xbox Series X, we’re taking the natural step of stopping production on Xbox One X and Xbox One S All-Digital Edition. Xbox One S will continue to be manufactured and sold globally.” That being said, some retailers should still have stock for both consoles. “Gamers can check with their local retailers for more details on Xbox One hardware availability.”

While this step is undoubtedly to prepare for the next generation, it only fuels rumors of Xbox Lockhart’s existence. The low-power alternative to the Xbox Series X is rumored to be revealed in August and could possibly become the middle-tier Xbox hardware option when the next generation arrives. It further reflects Xbox boss Phil Spencer’s stance on having all Microsoft games being available for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X “in the next couple of years.”

The real question is why the base model of the Xbox One wasn’t discontinued, especially since the Xbox One S fulfills its role. We’ll have to wait for more information on that front. The Xbox Series X is currently slated to release this holiday season.

Microsoft has touted the cross-gen support that it will be offering even with the Xbox Series X on the horizon. However, it seems the Xbox One could be heading into the sunset soon. On the official Xbox site in Australia, only the Xbox One S and Xbox Series X are listed. Press Start then received confirmation from EB Games and JB Hi-Fi that they can’t order more stock for the Xbox One X in the region due to the console being deleted from their systems.

Even more interesting is that Amazon has the console listed as “discontinued” (which can be seen for Xbox One, Xbox One X, Xbox One S and Xbox One S All-Digital Edition as well on searching). A Reddit user who reportedly works at Target also noted that all the usual Xbox One SKUs that it carries have been discontinued, noting that there won’t be any more Xbox One S or Xbox One X consoles. Here’s where things get even weirder though.

Dan Tavares, the console business planning lead for Team Xbox replied on Twitter that, “Xbox One S is very much still available, we just changed SKU numbers. Amazon is just messy in how they show products.” What about the Xbox One and Xbox One X? So far, the availability of both is unclear.

One possible reason for the discontinuation is the rumored reveal of Xbox Lockhart, a lower-end alternative to the Xbox Series X. It could potentially replace the Xbox One X with the Xbox One S being the new lowest base model. We’ll have to wait for more details, especially with the Xbox Series X showcase taking place on July 23rd, so stay tuned.

Xbox One S is very much still available, we just changed SKU numbers. Amazon is just messy in how they show products.

— Dan Tavares (@HonestHippo) July 4, 2020