Microsoft has announced an upgrade option for the next Xbox console.
It’s part of the relaunched Xbox All Access, which lets you spread the cost of a console out over a series of monthly repayments.
Players in the UK and US who buy an Xbox One S with Xbox All Access can upgrade to Project Scarlett once it goes on sale holiday 2020 and they’ve made 18 payments.
If you get an Xbox One X with Xbox All Access, however, you can upgrade to Project Scarlett after you’ve made 12 payments, which means you can upgrade when the next Xbox console comes out holiday 2020.
Xbox All Access lets you buy an Xbox One for as low as £17.99 for 24 months. You can choose between Xbox One X, Xbox One S or Xbox One S All-Digital Edition bundles (the payments change depending on which console you go for). One Xbox controller is included with each bundle, as is a 24-month membership to xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Xbox All Access goes live 5th November in the UK, 8th November in the US, and 29th October in Australia. To get it in the UK you have to visit a GAME or a Smyths Toys store in-person, or go online at Smyths Toys.
To upgrade to the next Xbox, you need to buy it with a new Xbox All Access purchase from the same shop where you joined the program and trade-in the console you originally bought with Xbox All Access (Microsoft said the console you’re returning needs to be in good condition). Oh, and you’ll have to be “in good standing” with Swedish bank Klarna, the financing partner Microsoft has gone with in the UK, to get Project Scarlett on credit.
“We realise buying a console is an investment and some players are waiting to make the jump to the next generation with Project Scarlett when it launches in Holiday 2020 alongside Halo Infinite,” Microsoft said.
The idea here is clear: with the next-gen waiting in the wings, lots of people are choosing to hold off on a console purchase. With Xbox All Access, you can get an Xbox One X this Christmas safe in the knowledge you can replace it with Project Scarlett next Christmas.
There’s small print, of course. There’s a £15 upgrade fee for players upgrading from the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition to Project Scarlett, for example. And we don’t know how much Project Scarlett will cost, so we don’t know how much the finance deal for it will cost.
