The Xbox Series generation started on November 10, 2020, with the Series X and Series S launching together. Microsoft offered two different entry points from the beginning. The…

The Xbox Series generation started on November 10, 2020, with the Series X and Series S launching together. Microsoft offered two different entry points from the beginning. The original Series X was the more powerful model with a disc drive, while the Series S was a smaller, lower-priced, all-digital system. They were part of the same generation, with different hardware targets. That distinction is worth making because the names can get confusing when you're also talking about the older Xbox One X and One S. One of the biggest changes was the move to SSD storage and the Xbox Velocity Architecture. Faster loading affects the time you spend getting into a game and moving through it. Quick Resume also let you switch between supported games and pick up where you had left off. It wasn't universal, and online games could still need to reconnect, but being able to keep several games suspended was a useful change to how the console worked. The launch included games such as Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Gears Tactics, and Tetris Effect: Connected. Smart Delivery was another part of the transition, giving supported purchases the appropriate version for the Xbox hardware you were using. The emphasis was on bringing people and their supported games forward while improving the experience, rather than making every part of the previous generation start over.