Phil Spencer thinks Xbox Series S will end up outselling Xbox Series X

Microsoft’s head of gaming, Phil Spencer, expects the cheaper Xbox Series S to outsell Xbox Series X over the course of the next generation.

Xbox Series S ($300/$300/£249) and Xbox Series X ($499/€499/£449) will both launch on November 10.

While Spencer expects Xbox Series X to be the bigger hit with early adopters, he told Kotaku:  “I think, over the generation, our expectation would be that price really matters and that you would see the Series S sell more.”

In terms of which new console ships more this holiday season, when Xbox Series X/S will be competing with PlayStation 5, Spencer said he believes the victor will likely be determined by production capacity.

“I think we’ll sell every unit of both of them that we can deliver,” he said. “I think demand is just going to outstrip supply of pre-orders. For us and PlayStation, I think that the manufacturing supply chain is going to dictate [market] share more than anything else.”

Microsoft launched Xbox Series X/S pre-orders on September 22. Initial stock was snapped up fairly quickly, with some retailers later informing players they might not receive their console on the day of release.

The platform holder has said it plans to make more Xbox Series X/S consoles available on launch day after “record-breaking” demand for the next-gen systems.

In his interview with Kotaku, Spencer also suggested Microsoft has already begun working on future Xbox Series console iterations.

Last week Microsoft launched the Xbox Series X/S marketing campaign, titled ‘Power Your Dreams’, with an advert starring Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya and featuring a new Labrinth song.

And on Thursday Microsoft revealed the Xbox Series X/S software launch line-up, including 20 games supporting Smart Delivery, which lets players buy a title once and play it across current and next-gen consoles.

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