Xbox One S Seeing "Unprecedented Demand," Backwards Compatibility Hits New Milestone

Demand has been off the charts for Microsoft's newly launched Xbox One S console, according to the company. Xbox marketing executive Aaron Greenberg said in an Xbox Wire post that Microsoft is seeing "unprecedented demand" for the slimmed-down system around the world.

He didn't share any specific sales numbers, but the system's 2 TB version is sold out at many stores in Europe. Microsoft has said the 2 TB launch model is only a limited-time version, so stock many be hard to find everywhere it's sold.

Thankfully for anyone looking for an Xbox One S, more are coming soon. On August 23, there will be three new versions offered: a 1 TB model that comes with Madden NFL 17 for $350, and 500 GB ($300) and 1 TB ($350) models that come with Halo 5: Guardians and Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The Xbox One makes using an external hard drive easy, so compensating for the smaller hard drive sizes is painless and relatively inexpensive.

In September, Microsoft will release new Xbox One S bundles themed around FIFA 17. Later this year, we'll also get another version of the system when the 2 TB Gears of War 4-branded console is released.

The Xbox One S debuted earlier this month, introducing 4K and HDR support in a smaller, sleeker box. It also provides a performance boost in some, but not all games. You can read more about it in GameSpot's review.

Another piece of news this week from Xbox is that the Xbox One's backwards compatibility feature continues to be popular. Greenberg said it's seen a "huge amount of engagement" since its launch in November 2015, with more than 145 million hours played. There are now more than 230 games in the Xbox One's backwards compatibility lineup--and Red Dead Redemption is finally among them.

Finally, Microsoft also confirmed this week that the Xbox One's Game Preview program is coming to Windows 10.