Is this a return to the console wars?
Xbox celebrates 25 years as a major player in the home console industry. To kick things off, Microsoft is releasing the Series X 25th Anniversary Edition. Rocking a translucent green shell, the cube-shaped unit stays in line with the console’s aesthetic and design language over the years. But how much does the limited edition console cost?
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Xbox Series X25 Price
Xbox Wire issued a press release highlighting the significance of the announcement for longtime fans of the console. “To celebrate 25 years of XBOX built with gamers, we’re introducing the XBOX 25th Anniversary Collection. Inspired by the look and feel of the original XBOX console, both the console and controller feature a transparent OG Green design with subtle tributes to the journey we’ve been on together.”
The controller that comes with the console has a large black “XBOX 25” logo on the same transparent green shell. The availability of both the console and the controller will be released in limited quantities in November 2026. XBOX’s CEO Asha Sharma helped the X25 make big headlines in June 2026 with a giveaway of the anniversary console.
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During her first ever Exhibition of gamespointed out Sharma Gears of War: E-Dayalong with Fable, Hellbladesand Doom: The Dark Ages. But it’s her handing out the consoles to everyone who attended that got people talking. By giving away the anniversary console to those who attended, she turned it into an event that people were excited to show up to in person.
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It’s a strategy that helped make MrBeast a household name and a billionaire, driving crowds of people to his content. So it’s hard to argue with Sharma’s decision-making, especially given all the press she received for doing so.
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According to The shortcut The price of the limited edition anniversary X25 console has not been confirmed, nor have pre-orders for it increased. However, the outlet expects the entire console with the new controller design to likely sell for around $750. The standalone controller is said to retail for $89.99.
The Series X officially went on sale on November 10, 2020, launching alongside the Series S. The monolithic, desktop PC tower-like console normally retails for $649.99. It comes with 1 TB of built-in storage and possesses 12 teraflops of processing power.
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It is also capable of displaying games in 4K resolution and comes packaged with a 4K UHD Blu-ray drive that allows gamers to play physical media. Conversely, the S puts out 4 teraflops of power, relies on internal storage for games and has a 512gb hard drive inside.
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For a full list of specs for both consoles, you can check out Xbox information page here. The Games Showcase also looks to bring back the spirit of the “console wars” as both Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution is proclaimed as excluding consoles.
Is this the type of healthy competition Xbox needs to get devotees excited about the console again? It looks like things are off to a good start ahead of Microsoft’s impending announcement of Project Helix, which is supposed to drop in 2027.
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