Xbox All Access: What You Need To Know

Xbox All Access was introduced years ago as a way for customers to buy an Xbox One without having to pay the full price upfront. It allowed them to pay a monthly cost while also getting access to Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold. With the impending release of Xbox Series X and Series S on November 10. Microsoft is offering Xbox All Access for both the Xbox Series X and Series S, too.

The Series S is capable of 1440p at up to 120 FPS, DirectX ray tracing, and variable refresh rate among other things. It comes with a custom 512GB SSD, which you'll need to store all of your games and content as it does not feature a disc drive. The Xbox Series X is the more powerful of the two, boasting 12.16 teraflops, a 1TB SSD, and 16GB of GDDR6 SDRAM.

The Series S will launch for $299, while the Series X goes for $499. Preorders went live today, September 22 at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET ahead of both consoles' November 10 launch. However, if you don't want to pay the entire cost upfront, Xbox All Access will let you pay your next-gen console off in monthly increments.

When can I sign up for Xbox All Access?

Preorders for the Xbox Series X and Series S went live today at multiple retailers, including Amazon, Target, GameStop, Walmart, and the Microsoft Store. Unfortunately--as expected--preorders sold out very quickly at all retailers, and it's unclear when more will be made available. The Xbox All Access situation was even more precarious, as it's unclear if anyone was actually able to sign up for a plan through the various retailers offering an Xbox All Access payment plan.

Where can I buy Xbox All Access?

Xbox All Access will be available in 12 countries this holiday, and more countries will follow next year. In the US, Xbox All Access is offered at Best Buy, GameStop, Target, Walmart, and the Microsoft Store. Xbox All Access costs $25/per month for 24 months for Xbox Series S and $35/month for 24 months for Xbox Series X. If more Xbox Series X/S consoles become available, here's where you can sign up for an Xbox All Access plan.

Here's a full list of countries and participating retailers:

Australia at Telstra
Canada at EB Games
Denmark at Elgiganten
Finland at Gigantti
France at FNAC
New Zealand at Spark
Norway at Elkjøp
Poland at Media Expert
South Korea at SK Telecom
Sweden at Elgiganten
UK at GAME and Smyths Toys
United States at Best Buy, GameStop, Target, Microsoft Store, and Walmart

What is Xbox All Access?

Xbox All Access will be available for both the Xbox Series X and Series S. This means you'll pay a monthly cost over 24 months instead of the entire price upfront. Both console plans will come with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes the Game Pass library on both Xbox One and PC, xCloud game streaming, Xbox Live Gold, and an EA Play subscription.

How much does Xbox All Access cost?

Xbox All Access costs $25 per month for 24 months for Xbox Series S and $35 per month for 24 months for Xbox Series X.

Considering Xbox All Access includes Game Pass Ultimate, you're actually saving money going this route. At $25 a month over two years for the Xbox Series S, you'll pay $600 total. Normally, the console costs $299 and two years of Game Pass Ultimate costs $360--that's a $59 savings. For the Xbox Series X, you'll pay $35 a month over two years--that's $840 total. The Series X costs $499, and if you add on the $360 Game Pass Ultimate cost, you're still saving $19.

Microsoft has already announced that if you're an All Access subscriber, you can upgrade to the Xbox Series X after you've reached 18 payments on your current contract. This gets you the Xbox Series X with a new Xbox All Access contract after trading in your original Xbox One.

Console upgrades for current Xbox All Access customers

If you signed up for Xbox All Access during the last promotional period, you'll be able to purchase an Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S and start making payments toward one of those consoles; however, you'll be required to make payments on both your old Xbox All Access purchase and your new one until the minimum required payment on your original purchase is met. Once you reach that minimum, you'll be mailed a trade-in kit to send back your original Xbox All Access console bundle. Once your trade-in kit is received and confirmed, you'll no longer owe the remaining balance on your original Xbox All Access purchase. See the full FAQ page on Xbox All Access upgrades at Microsoft for more info.

Pay for Xbox Series X or Series S outright

Of course, many won't necessarily want to be locked into a payment plan for two years. If that's you, then you can try to preorder the console outright. We've put together a list of preorder pages and placeholder listings for the Xbox Series X and Series S.

Preorder Xbox Series X: