Microsoft Shows New Xbox, Setting Up Holiday 2020 Console Clash

(Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. showed off its new game console, the Xbox Series X, for the first time, confirming the machine would go on sale in the 2020 holiday period. That sets up a clash with Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 5 console, scheduled to release at the same time.

The U.S. company’s new console boasts an unusual monolithic shape, though it comes with a familiar controller design. A price for the new machine has yet to be announced. Microsoft had previously said that the new console would be four times more powerful than the current generation Xbox One X.

Sony has yet to show details of the PlayStation 5 beyond the name and release period. The PlayStation 4 has been the clear winner in the current round of console wars, outselling Xbox by about more than two to one - but the launch of new machines gives Microsoft an opportunity to reclaim that edge.

“The Xbox Series X is shaping up to possibly give Microsoft the crown of most powerful console ever made again, as it did with the Xbox One X,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matthew Kanterman. “A stronger showing for Microsoft and continued strong performance from Sony should lead cumulative ninth-generation console sales to eclipse the eighth-generation by about 20% in our view.”

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To contact the reporter on this story: Gearoid Reidy in Tokyo at greidy1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gearoid Reidy at greidy1@bloomberg.net, Peter Elstrom

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