Microsoft has introduced new storage expansion options for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles to address the growing need for additional storage space as gamers accumulate more games and content.
The new expansion options, developed by Seagate, come in 512GB and 2TB variants, supplementing the existing 1TB option.
These expansion cards will be available in all markets, with the United States being the initial launch location. The 512GB card will retail for $139.99, which will likely translate directly to £139.99, based on the $219.99/£219.99 price of the 1TB model.
The larger 2TB model is priced at $399.99, which is almost equivalent to the cost of an Xbox Series X by itself. This is expected to translate to £399.99 as well.
According to Microsoft, the installation of the expansion cards is straightforward, as they can be inserted into the back of a Series X or Series S console. Games can be played directly from the cards or moved to and from the console.
The company asserts that these expansion options are preferred over other alternatives due to their design, which is “intended to match the exact performance of the internal storage” of the new-generation consoles.
In a blog post on Xbox Wire, Pamela Wang, the product manager for Designed for Xbox, stated: “The Storage Expansion Card uses the foundation of the Xbox Velocity Architecture. This is the custom, internal SSD delivering 2.4 GB/s of raw I/O throughput, more than 40x the throughput of Xbox One. The Seagate Storage Expansion Card was designed using the Xbox Velocity Architecture to deliver the exact same consistent, sustained performance of our internal SSD ensuring you have the exact same gameplay experience regardless of where the game resides.”
Details about the availability of the cards in the UK will be provided in the future. As game sizes continue to increase, expanding storage will likely become a necessity for gamers at some point.
