The Xbox Series S's usable storage has seemingly been leaked by a user on Reddit, who says that 364GB of the console's 512GB SSD is available for games and apps. User spead21 posted a picture of the console as evidence of their ownership of the digital-only Xbox – and it suggests you won't have much room for big games.
Still, Microsoft has previously said to IGN that it expects game sizes on Xbox Series S to be 30% smaller than those on Xbox Series X (which has 802GB of usable storage from a 1TB SSD). That's because the console targets a 1440p resolution rather than 4K.
Let's hope that's the case if the console's available storage really is this small.
Still, like the Xbox Series X, you can also buy a Seagate Expansion Card to add 1TB of storage to the Xbox Series S. Since that costs £220/$220, though, it's unlikely to be desirable to everyone picking up Microsoft's cheaper next-gen console.
The fight over storage
Microsoft and Sony have faced an interesting challenge in offering solid state drives as standard for their next-gen consoles. They're both right in thinking that faster storage offers a game-changing difference to players and developers – but finding the right balance between an acceptable amount of storage and affordability has clearly been tricky.
The PS5 has 667GB of usable storage, according to a recent leak.
No one was expecting miracles from the Xbox Series S, considering it costs $299.99 / £249.99 / AU$499. But considering how big install sizes of games have gotten in the past few years, and that this is a digital-only console, players might find that storage disappearing reasonably quickly.
- Not sold on Microsoft? Here's where to buy PS5
- Xbox Series X vs S
