The next generation of game consoles will arrive later this year, but Microsoft has revealed the release date and price for the first time: the Xbox Series X and its less massive sibling, the Xbox Series S, will go on sale on November 10.

The most massive console is priced at £450/$500/$749 and the Series S at £250/$300/$499, but the cheaper model comes at some cost. The lack of a disc drive means only downloadable games, and it cannot handle 4K games; if you don't have a 4K TV and want an inexpensive console for when you're not at your desk, this seems like a pretty incredible bargain.

Microsoft also offers financing: by paying £21/$25 per month for two years, Xbox All Access gets you an Xbox Series S and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for a total of about £504/$600 ( For Series X, the monthly payment goes up to £29/$35. If you want to continue Game Pass Ultimate (which, incidentally, includes PC games) after the two-year plan ends, you'll have to continue paying the fee. You will still have to pay the fee, but the console will be yours.

Game Pass Ultimate will also be considerably expanded to include EA Play. There is no extra charge, but about 60 EA console and PC games will be added to your digital library.

Usually, when a new console, especially one not made by Nintendo, comes along, I look at my bank account and mourn, but things are different these days. Not only is Microsoft bringing first-party Xbox exclusives to the PC, but they are also distributing some of them on Steam. While the price of the Series S is tempting, I'm still not convinced I need to add it to my shelf. For example, if I used that money to upgrade to Nvidia's new RTX 30 series graphics card, I wouldn't miss out on any games. (In related news, Sony is also talking about bringing more first-party console games to the PC.)

Pre-orders for the Xbox Series X and S will begin on September 22, and the consoles will begin shipping on November 10. Based on everything we know about the new Xbox and PlayStation 5, here's what we think they mean for PC gaming.