Digital-only Xbox Series X reportedly launching "June or July" this year

23.02.2024 - 20:11 / eurogamer.net / Phil Spencer / Series X

Microsoft is reportedly preparing to launch a new white, digital-only version of its top-end Xbox Series X console in «June or July» this year.

An «adorably all-digital» Xbox Series X refresh, planned for a 2024 release, first surfaced as part of a mammoth leak of official Microsoft documentation during last year's court battle with the FTC. However, Xbox boss Phil Spencer later insisted «so much has changed» since many of the plans detailed in the leak had been drawn up, leaving the all-digital console's future uncertain.

But now, reliable leaker eXtas1s (writing for Exputer) has claimed that not only are Microsoft's all-digital Xbox Series X plans still on, the console is set to release «sometime between the upcoming months of June and July» — although «chances for a slight delay» remain.

According to eXtas1s, not only will this new digital-only Xbox Series X jettison the optical disc drive of the original mode, it'll feature an improved heatsink and upgraded Nexus card. It's also claimed the revision will be white in an inversion of the current Series X colour scheme — but it sounds like the console's existing form factor will remain the same.

Last year's leak pointed to an all-digital Xbox Series X (codenamed Brooklin) with a entirely new cylindrical design, a front-facing USB-C slot, improved wi-fi, a refreshed controller, and decreased power draw — but eXtas1s' report mentions none of those, suggesting this is a far less wide-ranging revision.

That earlier design prompted fears Microsoft could be gearing up to ditch physical media altogether — a concern only compounded when it was reported the company's 1,900 layoffs in January had hit its games retail teams particularly hard. Addressing those concerns, Phil Spencer recently insisted Microsoft remained «supportive of physical media», but that Xbox's job was to «deliver on the things that a majority of the customers want. And right now, a majority of our customers are buying games digitally.»

Of course, today's reports of a new digital-only Xbox Series X release this summer don't mean much until Microsoft makes any such console official. Interestingly though, the company did recently confirm it would have more Xbox hardware news to share this year — although the suggestion was nothing would be revealed until this «holiday» season, a timeframe which obvious doesn't align with a possible June-July console refresh release window.

That announcement arrived alongside confirmation Microsoft would, as heavily rumoured, be releasing four previously Xbox-exclusive first-party games — now known to be