Xbox Seemingly Now Openly Admitting Xbox Series S Exists Before It's Announced

Xbox Series S is seemingly now mentioned on publicly available Xbox products, despite not having been officially announced yet. The long-rumoured console - which will apparently take the form of a lower price, lower performance variant of Xbox Series X - has never been officially announced or named by Microsoft, but multiple mentions of the console (and its internal codename, Lockhart) have been found. Now, those buying Microsoft products have found mention of Xbox Series S in their goods - as shown by this Xbox controller, which arrived with a Game Pass voucher that specifically mentions "Xbox Series X | S" (the same console name formatting found on alleged Xbox Series S controller packaging last month):

I got a new controller for my Xbox since mine was broken. Interestingly enough, the Game Pass Ultimate trial code sheet mentions the unannounced @Xbox Series S. It’s definitely a thing. pic.twitter.com/GX1rOYG5g7

— Brendan (@BraviaryBrendan) August 31, 2020

It remains to be seen when Xbox will formally announce the all-but confirmed console, although rumours point to an announcement this month. If the company is now printing public-facing materials with mention of Xbox Series S, that seems increasingly likely. Hopefully, that announcement comes alongside some of the notably missing details about the new range of Xbox consoles, such as release date, price, and Xbox Series X pre-orders. We know that Xbox Series X will be released in November, and an Xbox Series S controller leak seems to point to November 6. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] While Halo Infinite has been delayed to 2021, Xbox is still touting its launch line-up for the new new console(s), with "More than 50 new games planned for this year across generations and optimized for Xbox Series X, including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Dirt 5, Gears Tactics, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Watch Dogs: Legion. With Smart Delivery you only have to buy these games once to play the best versions for your console, across generations." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.