Today, Microsoft launched pre-orders for its upcoming next generation console, the Xbox One X. Sorry, I meant the Xbox Series X. Can you blame me? There’s only one word of difference between the two names, and it’s the one in the middle. There are also three X’s.
I might not be the only one who gets them confused, though. (Microsoft itself has, but I digress.) Despite today being pre-order day for the Series X (reminder: the new one), the One X (the old one) had a banner day on Amazon as well, at one point up 747 percent on Amazon’s “Movers & Shakers” sales charts.
Note that Amazon’s charts only cover the past hour — it wasn’t #4 all day — and that 747 percent figure is how much the Xbox One X climbed up the charts, not an increase in unit sales.
It’s not hard to imagine how people could end up buying the wrong console. If you search “xbox series x” on Amazon, the top two search results are for the Series X and the One X, and the images of the two of them can be hard to distinguish from one another. Both feature a large black box with an Xbox controller leaning against it on the right side, all on a black background. In the rush to grab a valuable pre-order, I could see how someone could mistake the two offerings.
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For the people who did accidentally buy an Xbox One X (a refresher: that’s the old one), hopefully they realize the error of their ways, are able to return their console to Amazon for a full refund, and eventually have the chance to buy the next-gen console they were actually looking for. It’s 2020, stuff happens, and it’s not your fault that Microsoft picked a confusing naming scheme for its next-generation consoles.
And besides, the Xbox One X’s big day might have an alternate explanation that would be sweet justice for those who felt that Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 preorders were snapped up impossibly quickly: perhaps all of these Xbox One X consoles were bought by misinformed bots.
If that’s the case, enjoy your discontinued console, bots.
Update September 22nd, 8:19PM ET: Clarified that the 747 percent figure represents the Xbox One X’s rise up Amazon’s sales charts, not growth in unit sales.
