Microsoft has confirmed that they have ceased production of the original Xbox One. A Microsoft spokesperson informed Eurogamer, "As is typical for the console industry, we stopped manufacturing the original Xbox One when we introduced Xbox One S."
This news, however, was not relayed at the time of the release of the Xbox One S. It came to light after the Xbox One stopped being sold at the Microsoft Store and did not show in search results on the site. GAME UK also now only sells pre-owned Xbox One on their website.
The Xbox One was released on November 22nd, 2013 for most parts of the world, and was released in Japan and China in September 2014, which makes the Xbox One less than four years old.
The XB1 struggled to compete with its main competitor, Sony's PlayStation 4. The launch line-up of games for the Xbox One was said generally received to be better than PlayStation 4's. However, those exclusives were not enough. The loss of the PR wars with Sony prior to the console's launch was thanks in part to a new version of the Kinect (a motion-sensing input device that was available for the Xbox 360), being included with the original Xbox One. That drove up the cost of the console and did not help Microsoft. Alongside this, the original plans for the XB1 to always be connected online to work and a change in the process of how to play pre-owned games along with other factors gave PlayStation numerous advantages.
The Xbox One sold less than half of the 63.3 million units Sony have sold of their PlayStation 4.
What's the difference between the Xbox One and Xbox One S?
The Xbox One S, which was launched in August 2016, has a number of differences from the XB1. The power supply of the Xbox One S was built-in, unlike that of the XB1 which came with an external power supply.
It also has a smaller casing size of nearly 40 percent. Physical power and eject keys (the XB1 used capacitive keys), were a slight performance improvement and lacks a dedicated Kinect port. In an advantage over both the XB1 and PlayStation 4, the Xbox One S also doubles as an Ultra HD (4K) Blu-ray Player. among other differences.
What's next for the Xbox?
Microsoft announced the launch of a new Xbox One console this year at E3, called the Xbox One X. It was previously known as Project Scorpio and it was first mentioned at E3 in 2016. It will go on sale in November 2017.
The Xbox One X has been touted as the world's most powerful console and its main competitor is the PS4 Pro, the mid-generation console upgrade to the PS4 which Sony released in November 2016.
The Xbox One X will allow games to play in true 4K (unlike the upscale to 4K feature of Sony's PS4 Pro), and comes with 6 teraflops of graphical power, which is more than the 4.2 teraflops that the PS4 Pro offers and according to Microsoft, is their "smallest Xbox ever".
It will also come with an inbuilt Ultra HD Blu-ray drive, among other features.
The Xbox One X is available for pre-order on the GAME website for £449.99.
If you'd like to check out more Gaming news then you might like my article on the potential of a PlayStation 5 and Sid Y's article on the new Assassin's Creed Origins Trailer.
