Xbox Series X and S are Microsoft's fastest-selling consoles despite limited supplies

Xbox Series X
(Image credit: Future)

Sales for Xbox Series X and S have out-paced all previous Xbox console generations, according to Phil Spencer.

The boss of Xbox discussed the commercial performance of the two consoles on a recent New York Times podcast. The Xbox Series X and S were released 14 months ago on November 10, 2020, and Spencer says that "at this point, we've sold more of this generation of Xboxes, which is Xbox Series X and S, than we had any previous version of Xboxes."

There are two important qualifiers here. Firstly, Spencer obviously isn't referring to lifetime sales. The Xbox 360's total sales, which topped 85 million units by most estimates, remain unmatched within Microsoft, but the Xbox Series X and S have set a new record for the 14-month mark. 

It's also important to remember that this generation of Xbox consoles had the enormous benefit of launching with two different models with dramatically different price points, with the Xbox Series S positioned as a much more affordable option. There's a reason the Xbox Series S was the best-selling console during Black Friday 2021. 

At the same time, Microsoft, along with Sony and Nintendo, has also had to contend with unprecedented supply shortages and distribution bottlenecks primarily caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. However, Spencer maintains that while new consoles are still hard to find – and may stay that way well into 2023, according to some reports – "it's not because supply is smaller than it's ever been." 

"Supply is actually as big as it’s ever been. It’s that demand is exceeding the supply for all of us," he says, acknowledging that the PS5 is also in short supply. "So it’s our job to get the supply there to meet that demand," he adds.

Demand will likely stay strong into 2022 as we look forward to these upcoming Xbox Series X games.

Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

Read more
Xbox Series X
I love consoles more than anything but Microsoft has me less excited than ever about the Xbox Series X successor
Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S
Despite "a rocky couple of years," analyst reckons Xbox's console war is "actually looking pretty bright" - "If you look at the PlayStation sales chart, you see a lot of Microsoft on there"
Xbox Game Pass showing Avowed, Indiana Jones, Black Ops 6 and more
With Indiana Jones and Forza Horizon 5 ports, Phil Spencer isn't "trying to move" Nintendo Switch and PS5 players "over to Xbox anymore"
Xbox Series S deals
The best Xbox Series S deals and bundles: all the biggest offers in March 2025
a halo screenshot put on a nintendo switch 2 screen
Nintendo Switch 2 may be getting more Xbox titles as Phil Spencer is "really looking forward to supporting them with the games that we have"
As Switch 2 approaches, original Xbox designer says console power doesn't matter anymore because content is king, and he "would not have done things the same way" Microsoft has
Latest in FPS
Destiny 2 Lightfall
When Destiny 2 "weekly active users dropped lower and faster than we'd seen since 2018," Bungie assembled an A-Team to put out some fires: "We needed to do something"
halflife screenshot showing a headcrab jumping at a player
Half-Life devs worried Gabe Newell "promised things that they couldn't possibly deliver" for the iconic FPS, but "they just didn't know" that they'd be able to do it yet
Former Valve exec recounts the meeting where Half-Life's publisher almost killed the iconic FPS: "Half-Life would quietly die. I was stunned"
FBC Firebreak screenshot for GamesRadar Big Preview showing a character throwing an electric shock grenade in a crowded room
FBC: Firebreak may be Remedy's first live-service game but the Control creators are going about it the right way, confirming that all playable post-launch content "will always be free"
"Valve would never ship another game": Former exec forced Half-Life publisher's hand by saying Gabe Newell and the team would pivot away from game dev
Gordon Freeman
Valve literally gives Half-Life away now, but 27 years ago it was carefully crushing its angry pirates: "None of them had actually bought the game"
Latest in News
Daredevil: Born Again episode 6
Daredevil's Charlie Cox isn't in the Avengers: Doomsday cast list – but Marvel fans have an idea about how he might still show up
Simu Liu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Simu Liu had the best reaction to Shang-Chi’s announcement for Avengers: Doomsday, but fans think it's "criminal" there hasn’t been a direct sequel
Mario faces the camera with a thumbs up pose in Super Smash Bros. Ulimate.
Nintendo Direct March 2025 live – all the Switch news, trailers, and reveals as they happen
Batman: Arkham Knight
Rocksteady's rumored single-player Batman game is in development for PC, PS5, Xbox, and "the next generation of consoles"
The Last of Us Part 1
The Last of Us director Neil Druckmann wanted to make sure the first game "was complete" because "I wasn't sure they would ever let me direct a game again"
Pillars of Eternity
10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode