The Next Xbox Will Be Called 'Xbox,' But Not Really?

Depending on where you get your news, you either think "The Next-Gen Xbox Is Called Series X," or that "The Next Generation Of Xbox Is Just Called...Xbox," or "Oh god, why does anybody care when the whole world is on fire?"

Microsoft realized they botched the reveal of the console's name during 2019's The Game Awards, so a spokesperson later specified that the official name is simply Xbox. Only... that's not actually true. To understand the new Xbox's actual name, you have to slightly adjust your concept of what a video game console even is. The new Xbox is not designed to be a machine that collects dust on your TV stand for five to ten years.

It's only supposed to collect dust on your TV stand for three or four years.

The head of Xbox, Phil Spector, told GameSpot that the name gives them the "freedom to do other things with that name so that we can create descriptors when we need to." Think of it more like an iPhone -- iPhone is the base name, but then there's the iPhone 9, iPhone 9S, iPhone X, iPhone 11 Pro Max Gaiden Turbo Tournament Edition, and so on. It's not like any of this is new: Microsoft released three different versions of both the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One. They're just building the idea of iteration into the name this time, in an effort to better sell you slightly different things with a slightly different name every few years.

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