Xbox Series X 1TB Storage Expansion Card Priced At £220 / $220

This price will get lowered with time as seen in the usual YoY flash memory price fall.
Proprietary format enables it to be easily hot swappable by any average joe.

I’ll pick one up in a year or two when hopefully the price will have dropped.

So basically this is for when you have or want multiple games (storred) on your console right?
Right now I delete games from my harddrive when I don't play them anymore or finished them. So that is still an option right?

1TB at £180ish is crazy expensive. That's nearly the price of the Series S itself. Not a chance in hell I'm paying that kind of money for the expansion.
I hope along the lines they enable other external hard drives to function with the series X the same way they do for Xbox One. My expansion for the One works perfectly. This wasn't really an area Microsoft needed to change....

@pip_muzz All external hard drives will work with Xbox Series Day 1 and you can play games from it directly just like Xbox One. Only for some next-gen games you need to first transfer it to the faster SSD before you can play.

I'll get one when I need one, as I was always going to.

I have this... itchy feeling there will be another one that's meant to match the PS5 SSD speeds.

No surprise, I called it with at least $200 since being proprietary drives the price up. Can get a 1tb faster drive for less than this.

@Bruvas

Thank you for your reply.
You are correct about that for sure and I guess it only will be the normal thing to do in the next gen of consoles. The price of this product is somewhat high almost as expensive as the S. So I will use my normal hard drive.

But with things like this do "casual" gamers or parents know about this?

Ooof, I won't be getting that for a long time until the price drops considerably. I've got 2 4TB HDD that I'll move the games between as and when needed.

@roe It's confirmed you can use external drives to store next gen games but noy play them from it. You just transfer them back and forth instead of wasting money on Microsoft's terrible storage solution.

Ouch, That's gonna put a dent in the wallet..

No, I won't be getting one at launch. Maybe a few years down the track. I'll just manage the games I'll have better.

Not a chance at that price, I'll just install games as and when I'm playing them

What’s the U.K. cost then please. £££

@FraserG
Thank you I’m guessing about £170.

@Senua Aw that's good to know. I was of the understanding that only the Official Seagate Expansions would let you play direct and you'd be able to use other devices but have to copy it over each time. So I thought it was different to how it currently is where I just plug in my expansion and go, even works on friends Xboxes.

@pip_muzz You can only play Xbox One/360/OG games from an external hard drive. All next gen games must be run from either the internal SSD or these expansion cards. External HDDs can only store next gen games, not play them.

@roe As long as the Xbox account has the license, I imagine it will work on multiple consoles.

It's smaller than a normal SSD and has the heat sink built in. It's objectively not expensive but of course this technology is new and more expensive now. We don't really need to buy it now (I voted no) because you can storage all your games (including Series X/S games) on an external HDD (mine is 4TB) and you can play all Xbox, 360 and One games on it, just have to move Series X/S games to the internal storage. No big deal. Besides, if you wait, they'll release the 2TB memory card and the 1TB will be cheaper by then.

It's obvious that the next-gen consoles will be sold at a loss for some time, the accessories won't.

As @Medic_Alert said, we're saving money elsewhere: extra controllers (Xbox One controllers work) and free remasters 😉.

knew this would happen, even though I've got a pre order for the xsx that price for a 1tb nvme pci4.0 is way too high, I just got a 1tb 970 evo nvme for £129.00 last month, not the same must admit but come on! PS5 got it right allow normal nvme drive's to be add

It's a good thing these aren't 100% necessary.

@Iceman5x5 We don't knows what SSDs will be compatible with PS5 yet.

I need one, I don't want to have to do a lot of moving back and forth between my external HDD and the internal memory. Too many games and not enough storage! 😂 I get PS2 memory card vibes when I look at it. I demand different colour options! 😎

@Iceman5x5 Yea I'd wait to see what drives are officially supported on the PS5. Like they have kept on about how fast their storage is. So you would think only top of the range ones will be supported. Also doubt they'll be hot swappable. Like a lot of things Sony have not been very honest or upfront about this new generation. Will be a few years before I get rid of the PS4 Pro because of it.

I still want to know how much of the 512 or 1tb will be have after the OS is taken up?

@themightyant The Samsung 980 is available for Pre Order in the States already and prices are pretty similar-

https://www.newegg.com/samsung-1tb-980-pro/p/N82E16820147790

Unless this is a different drive.

I understand the benefits of an SSD, but given the price and the fact that even "built for PS5" games are showing up on HDD systems, I really don't think SSDs are ready for consoles.

I would have much preferred a 2-4TB disc based Series S, than a SSD discless Series S. Hell, the higher memory capacity would have really helped for digital only consoles. I feel like SSDs should have been a luxury thing reserved for high end consoles. Making games required to work on external HDDs, and giving the customer the choice on which they wanted.

I think it's smarter to buy a 4tb HDD and swap games when it's needed.
At least, that's what I'm going to do.

@Bobobiwan This is mine, I bought it in 2017.

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing-accessories/data-storage/external-hard-drives/seagate-expansion-portable-hard-drive-4-tb-black-10146411-pdt.html

Well I was planning to get one, but this is ridiculous and an uncharacteristically not very consumer friendly move from Microsoft.

@VenomousAlbino Remember that the next-gen consoles are sold at a loss but accessories aren't and these memory cards are manufactured by Seagate and it's a new compact technology that will be cheaper in the near future.

@Medic_Alert @themightyant I wonder if the SSD of PS5 has to be replaced and that's why Sony haven't shown the back side of PS5.

@BlueOcean I'm aware.

It's also the same mistake platform holders keep making: forcing proprietary technology on consumers when there are cheaper readily available alternatives they could have opted for.

@BlueOcean the real problem is only 500gb in the S

Any word on what the max external expansion capacity will be on Series X?

On One it was 32Tb (16Tb on each USB)

@themightyant Did he say anything about heat sink models and general compatibility? What haven't they shown the back side of PS5?

Yeah, I'll wait.

1TB should suffice for a while, plus I have a 2TB External I can use for legacy games.

At least Xbox will have an expansion storage with the same speed as the built-in, whereas PlayStation won't have (or we just know nothing about it).

Well, Series X games are supposed to be smaller in general thanks to being able to be compresses and accessed near instantly with the SSD. But also sizes are going to creep up too with all the 4K and higher assets.

I've got a 5TB external I guess I'll be keeping them on unless it is just faster to download than move at this point lol.

Since I will be getting the series S at launch, I'll definitely need one of these... eventually. Once more next gen games start releasing next year and beyond, this will hopefully be cheaper.

@Jslade Series S has less storage capacity but games will reportedly be 30% smaller for Series S 😉.

@themightyant It looks like you'll have to remove one of the sides to insert the extra SSD into the PS5.

Just to confirm, any digital games that you buy or get through games with gold you can delete from your hard drive and just download them whenever you want to play them right? It's stored in your profile that you own them?

@Krzzystuff Exactly. You can delete every single digital game including Games with Gold and download them again. You can buy a Series X/S and all those games will be available for you to download (the improved Series X/S version). You can also connect the same external HDD that you use for Xbox One to Series X/S and play the games on it (they will be updated to the improved Series X/S version). All of this is automatic and free.

@BlueOcean so what's the issue then? I hear people talking about 3TB hardrives that they have with games and how it's going to be a pain transfering them to the series x..what's the point if you can just download them whenever you want to play them? Am I missing something?

@Krzzystuff There are no issues. If they connect the same external HDD to Series X/S, the games will be updated automatically to the improved Series X/S version. Those people don't have a clue. They only re-download the games that they have erased.

@BlueOcean Ty! Side question, if the internet goes down can you still play games on gamepass that you downloaded or are you SOL? Only owned games on your hard drive will work at that point?

As far as I understand there is no proprietary tech in these expansion cards, its just using a PCIe 4 controller with only form factor being unique. I expect a number of 3rd parties will join the race to supply and prices will drop. Would be silly to buy at launch given all the back catalogue can be played of USB connected drive. I have a USB 3.1 enclosure with a 2TB SATA SSD in it I'll make use of and only when I have a full main drive of next gen games will I pick up an expansion. Expect price drop by then

@Medic_Alert I've not, and I'm sure it is, but locking in SSD as the standard rather than the high end option, locks everything in to SSD. That includes locking in people to the expenses and memory limits of the tech.

I just think that gamers should have the choice. People should be able to decide for themselves what hardware is suitable for their needs.

Looking like I’ll be using an external HDD for now then. Might get the expansion card at some point, but as always price is the key point

@Krzzystuff No problem. You can play Game Pass games even if you're offline, the online check is not 24/7 but I'm not sure how often you have to connect for your console to check that you are subscribed to Game Pass.

@Royalblues True but Series S games are supposed to be 30% smaller than Series X/PS5 games. The biggest problem will be on PS5 (825GB). Besides, developers say that they will be able to shrink games because of the SSD technology compared to Xbox One X that uses 4K textures and HDD. It's not as bad as it seems.

@Medic_Alert Besides, this technology will be cheaper in a few years and these consoles are next-generation! They are supposed to serve us for many years and they haven't even launched yet.

@BlueOcean notice nothing has actually been confirmed for the digital edition PS5 regarding memory? It's TBD last i heard, PlayStation never confirmed anything yet so they might actually have a smaller drive on it, everyone is just assuming it's the same as the disk version.

@Krzzystuff In theory, PS5 Digital is the same as PS5 but without the disc drive.

@Medic_Alert It doesn't feel like we're having the same argument here. I'm not saying you can't have an SSD. I didn't say that SSDs were too new. And any game that is on Xbox and PC will have to work on HDDs because many PCs will be running PCs.

My argument is about choice. And you disagree with me because SSDs are suitable for you?. That's not really a good argument for standardising SSDs.

The irony here is that on PCs, where SSDs have been available for years, HDDs will still be available too.

@BlueOcean lol post pre-order theory. Crazy that it's not confirmed. Listen to the latest Iron Lord's Podcast for a nerve racking theory from King regarding the PS5 being delayed. It's just a theory on his part but sure had everyone on the show nervous. I can't see Sony being that arrogant but was funny seeing everyone start sweating.

I'll be waiting for the expansion drives, might never actually get one if i can store enough games at one time.

That’s pretty steep. I’ll be waiting my a bit before I upgrade. I’ve got an 8tb HDD attached to my One X that I’ll transfer over, and use the free space on that to swap games in and out of the internal drive as needed.

Haha no, I can buy another Xbox for that

£219.99.... Even more than I thought, very very expensive....
Just £30.00 less than the price of the Series S itself..

I’ll stick with my 8tb external Seagate I’m using with my Xbox one when I eventually upgrade, no way am I paying that for only 1tb

Should be £170 smh

@graysoncharles It would be more like making the HDMI argument, but during the 360/PS3 days.

There was a whole gen that had both options while the world caught up with the tech. Next gen has a storage limit that is smaller than this gen, and expansion options that cost nearly as much as a next gen system.

1TB SSD isn't exactly a solution to the problem. Since its not larger than what comes with the consoles, and as of yet, there's no way to use that along side the internal drive. It just makes it cheap enough for the makers to include them. 2TB drives, external especially, are still expensive, and there are no options for larger. The limited options in space and expansion for customers still makes this a problem.

I feel like people here are forgetting that while new tech comes out, we still had people using analogue, still using sub-HD, sub-4K tvs, during adoption periods while new tech is slowly made standard and cheap enough. There's no adoption period here. It's a hard swap.

@FraserG It's not €269.99 but €249.99 in EU (which is expensive enough 😁). Taxes included in UK and EU but not in US.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ie/p/Seagate-Storage-Expansion-Card-for-Xbox-Series-X/940J83PK147R/?ranMID=24542&ranEAID=te1Fq2FCseg&ranSiteID=te1Fq2FCseg-kQTo78k_lrpFQin2CT7f9Q&epi=te1Fq2FCseg-kQTo78k_lrpFQin2CT7f9Q&irgwc=1&OCID=AID2000142_aff_7593_1243925&tduid=%28ir__q0srdqxwf9kftkbvxka03fe3c22xi9v2ndjhzmiz00%29%287593%29%281243925%29%28te1Fq2FCseg-kQTo78k_lrpFQin2CT7f9Q%29%28%29&irclickid=_q0srdqxwf9kftkbvxka03fe3c22xi9v2ndjhzmiz00

@FraserG No problem!

I thought around £170 was not expecting £220. I will wait a bit for sub £200.

Don't forget we will see 2TB expansion cards and that the 1TB models will be cheaper. I'll wait. If you do, you'll either get double storage capacity or a cheaper price.

Microsoft's first dumb move is officially here. £220!!!!!! That's like $300 for the Americans here.
You can literally buy a Series S for £30 more with the same hard drive space as this 1TB expansion.
Terrible decision here. Not happy with this considering the options for external drives more limited this time. If I want to expand, plug in and play immediately I'd need this! I'm fearing Xbox will match the £70 price increase on games Sony did now too... Hmmmmmmmm

@Dezzy70 article updated ouch £219.99 I bought a 1TB Sabrent Rocket PCIE4 NVMe for PC so this is a hard pass for me. Hopefully Xbox download sizes will be a lot smaller and or let us choose to download only what we need.

@Rikdangerousxd
I doubt they will get much smaller on seriesx
We want all those 4K texture assets, ray tracing and increased level of detail, Dolby atmos and Dolby vision etc.

Does anyone know how much of the series x 1tb internal memory is actually available to use for game downloads?

I dont think I'll need it for 6 months or so, hopefully the modular game downloads and compression systems will make the 1TB of the series X last.

I am hoping for a price reduction also, however I am aware that older SATA SSDs of the same capacity are still £100+ so this is not a shocking price point.

Great to see us in the UK getting shafted again with the exchange rates...

I wonder how long before we see non-Xbox branded versions from Seagate and/or 3rd Party alternatives...

I’ll be going with an external drive & transferring games over to that while I wait for the price to come down.

@Dezzy70 £220!!!

I won't need one. I uninstall my games when I am finished with them. I will be fine on space.

I was okay with £170ish for this. Still would have waited as got an 8tb external to use. £220 though... This is one expensive gen. Lucky my backlog is huge so will enjoy all the graphical upgrades on older stuff for now.

Was always going to be expensive at first. I just hope once the tech becomes more mainstream, the prices drop. Just look at SSD's when they first burst onto the scene.
For now, I'm fine with backing games up on my 2TB external, and moving over if needs be.