New Xbox Series S Starter Bundle Includes 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

As the holiday season is getting closer, Microsoft announced today a new $299 Xbox Series S Starter bundle that will be available starting October 31. It includes a white Xbox Series S console with 512GB of storage, an Xbox controller, and 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate ($50 value).

The base Xbox Series S with 512GB of storage (it’s actually 364GB of usable storage) is still priced at $299.99, so this bundle pretty much gives you 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for free. And Microsoft’s game subscription service is still of great value with hundreds of games to play on Xbox (and PC), access to online multiplayer and Xbox Cloud Gaming, and some exclusive in-game content every month.

Microsoft’s marketing ploy with the Xbox Series S is that it offers “the best value in gaming.” The console supports the same features as the $499 Xbox Series X, including Quick Resume, 120 FPS, and ray-tracing, even though game developers who make the effort to support these features on the Series S are pretty rare.

The Xbox Series is still a great little console if you have no need for a disc drive and don’t obsess about 4K graphics and framerates. However, the 512GB of storage (again, it’s actually just 364GB) is a tough sell in 2023 when games like Starfield, Call of Duty: Warzone, or Forza Motorsport need over 100GB of storage. Be prepared to invest in an external USB drive or a proprietary storage expansion card if you want to really enjoy your console.

Otherwise, Microsoft has recently launched the new $349.99 Xbox Series S Carbon Black with 1TB of storage, which I think is better value. However, this console doesn’t include 3 free months of Game Pass Ultimate.