The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was released on March 31, and the book has details on a few rejected storylines and characters that didn't make it into the film. Polygon says Finn was going to have a long-lost brother, Finn and Poe were supposed to have a mini adventure involving an encryption device, and more rejected script ideas are detailed in the art book. It was once written in the script that Finn has a brother who would help in the destruction of the First Order. That sibling would supposedly have been stranded on a world filled with garbage, but had an important piece of information that would lead the heroes to victory. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=star-wars-exclusive-preview-of-the-art-of-the-rise-of-skywalker&captions=true"] Also, Finn and Poe were supposed to go on a quest that involved an encryption device. Stormtroopers were going to invade a bar on a snow-covered planet, which somehow would've jeopardized the device. The location developed into Kijimi, which is the place where Rey, Finn and Poe meet up with Zorrii Bliss and Babu Frik. Speaking of Babu Frik, the character was originally a chef but was molded in with another character into the droidsmith that was seen in the final movie. That other character was an old, blind shipbuilder associated with Rey's upbringings on Jakku. Rey, Finn and Poe would've visited the blind character, but the location was changed to the desert planet, Pasaana, and the three heroes meet up with Lando Calrissian instead. The droid D-0 would've also been a part of that original sequence with the blind woman, and would've been one of many machines that followed the old shipbuilder around her home. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/18/star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-every-ship-bonus-feature"] Poe had a few different storylines that never saw the light of day. A scene would've had him on a swampy planet trying to get up-river with a bunch of pirates as his crew. Another had him captured by an old gang he was affiliated with. Neither of those scenes make it into the film, although Poe runs into old friends during the sequence on Kijimi. There are also some images of Kylo Ren's friend, the Oracle. That character was a hairless, spider-esque creature that would've directed Kylo Ren to Exegol. More details on that character were released in the Rise of Skywalker novelization. The Oracle never made it into the final film, because the filmmakers didn't want a prolonged explanation for how Kylo Ren got to Exegol. Instead, the movie began with Kylo Ren obtaining a Sith wayfinder that leads him to Exegol. As for plot details that never changed, Polygon says the hidden fleet of First Order ships and the Sith temple were in the script from very early on. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=star-wars-17-ways-the-rise-of-skywalker-novelization-adds-to-the-movie&captions=true"] And, yes, there is art of a tank designed to look like BB-8. Gizmodo has pictures from the book and reports that concept designer Jake Lunt Davies wasn't taking the BB-8 tank design too seriously. "I was just having some fun with this tank. I’m not sure I would have actually wanted to see it realized in the final film," Davies said. These are far from the only Rise of Skywalker details to be released since the movie debuted in December. Here are 17 details from the Rise of Skywalker novelization and a Jedi actor talking about the process behind his cameo. And for more concept art from The Art of Rise of Skywalker, check out five exclusive images. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN.

Like many other recent titles, Final Fantasy 7 Remake will take up over 100GB on your hard drive. One of the reasons why the RPG clocks in so much storage space, even as just a part one of a multi-part release, is because Square Enix created custom assets for every part of Midgar. In an interview with USgamer, Final Fantasy 7 Remake co-director Naoki Hamaguchi said that “Rather than thinking about repurposing standard assets for individual locations, like the Slums or the Shinra Building, we decided to build each location using unique assets to achieve the quality desired for [Final Fantasy 7 Remake].” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/02/final-fantasy-7-remake-preview"] That means when you venture into different parts of Midgar, like the Slums, you won’t see assets re-used in other areas of the game. According to Hamaguchi, each area includes specially designed assets like “the backgrounds, [background music] and characters per location, which allowed for a unique gameplay experience in each area, even from a game design perspective.” This explains why the file size for Final Fantasy 7 Remake is, which ranks it alongside other 100+ GB downloads like Red Dead Redemption 2. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=final-fantasy-7-remake-29-new-wall-market-screenshots&captions=true"] Early copies of Final Fantasy 7 Remake are already floating around retailers in Australia and Europe after Square Enix announced it would allow copies of the game to be sold early. This was a response to the COVID-19 pandemic which threatened delays for physical copies of the game. Check out IGN’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake wiki for more coverage of the upcoming RPG remake. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Like many other recent titles, Final Fantasy 7 Remake will take up over 100GB on your hard drive. One of the reasons why the RPG clocks in so much storage space, even as just a part one of a multi-part release, is because Square Enix created custom assets for every part of Midgar. In an interview with USgamer, Final Fantasy 7 Remake co-director Naoki Hamaguchi said that “Rather than thinking about repurposing standard assets for individual locations, like the Slums or the Shinra Building, we decided to build each location using unique assets to achieve the quality desired for [Final Fantasy 7 Remake].” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/02/final-fantasy-7-remake-preview"] That means when you venture into different parts of Midgar, like the Slums, you won’t see assets re-used in other areas of the game. According to Hamaguchi, each area includes specially designed assets like “the backgrounds, [background music] and characters per location, which allowed for a unique gameplay experience in each area, even from a game design perspective.” This explains why the file size for Final Fantasy 7 Remake is, which ranks it alongside other 100+ GB downloads like Red Dead Redemption 2. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=final-fantasy-7-remake-29-new-wall-market-screenshots&captions=true"] Early copies of Final Fantasy 7 Remake are already floating around retailers in Australia and Europe after Square Enix announced it would allow copies of the game to be sold early. This was a response to the COVID-19 pandemic which threatened delays for physical copies of the game. Check out IGN’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake wiki for more coverage of the upcoming RPG remake. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Cold Symmetry and Playstack have announced Mortal Shell, a soulslike action-RPG in the vein of Dark Souls and Bloodborne that will be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in Q3 2020. Mortal Shell, which was previously known as Dungeonhaven, is being developed by a core team of 15 people who all have experience working on some of the biggest AAA games in the world. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/01/mortal-shell-announcement-trailer"] “For a small team like ours, developing this title in many ways felt like crossing an ocean on a paddle board,” the studio’s three co-founders — Andrew McLennan-Murray, Anton Gonzalez, and Vitaly Bulgarov — said in a joint statement. “To finally announce Mortal Shell is one of the most exciting and terrifying experiences we’ve had in our lifetimes. The last two years have been a time of non-stop growth, full of shocking revelations of sheer complexity that goes into creating a video game that you, yourself, would really enjoy playing.” Mortal Shell allows players to discover and occupy different Mortal Shells from their vanquished enemies. Each shell provides its own mastery of skills and weapon upgrades and allows for different playstyles. Combat, like others in the soulslike genre, is very strategic and delibrate and requires much of the player. Mortal Shell's non-linear campaign will test the skills of any who undertake its challenge across marsh-infested lowlands, a gargantuan cathedral of obsidian rock, and an ancient crypt frozen into the crest of a mountain. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=mortal-shell-screenshots&captions=true"] The official description for Mortal Shell is as follows:

"Awakening as an empty vessel, you will enter into a shattered and twisted world where the remains of humanity wither and rot. Implored to do the bidding of the mysterious “Dark Father”, you must traverse this tattered landscape and track down hidden sanctums of devout followers. There, in Mortal Shell’s most hallowed grounds, you must overcome formidable foes and harvest the sacred glands. You won’t be truly alone when the dead litter your path: Scattered across this land are the remnant anima of lost warriors who can be inhabited to gain their unique abilities and knowledge of weapons. The Dark Father is desperate for you to complete your task — but to what end?"

While Mortal Shell won't be released until later this year, players can head to MortalShells.com to learn how they can sign up for a limited closed beta. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Cold Symmetry and Playstack have announced Mortal Shell, a soulslike action-RPG in the vein of Dark Souls and Bloodborne that will be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC in Q3 2020. Mortal Shell, which was previously known as Dungeonhaven, is being developed by a core team of 15 people who all have experience working on some of the biggest AAA games in the world. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/01/mortal-shell-announcement-trailer"] “For a small team like ours, developing this title in many ways felt like crossing an ocean on a paddle board,” the studio’s three co-founders — Andrew McLennan-Murray, Anton Gonzalez, and Vitaly Bulgarov — said in a joint statement. “To finally announce Mortal Shell is one of the most exciting and terrifying experiences we’ve had in our lifetimes. The last two years have been a time of non-stop growth, full of shocking revelations of sheer complexity that goes into creating a video game that you, yourself, would really enjoy playing.” Mortal Shell allows players to discover and occupy different Mortal Shells from their vanquished enemies. Each shell provides its own mastery of skills and weapon upgrades and allows for different playstyles. Combat, like others in the soulslike genre, is very strategic and delibrate and requires much of the player. Mortal Shell's non-linear campaign will test the skills of any who undertake its challenge across marsh-infested lowlands, a gargantuan cathedral of obsidian rock, and an ancient crypt frozen into the crest of a mountain. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=mortal-shell-screenshots&captions=true"] The official description for Mortal Shell is as follows:

"Awakening as an empty vessel, you will enter into a shattered and twisted world where the remains of humanity wither and rot. Implored to do the bidding of the mysterious “Dark Father”, you must traverse this tattered landscape and track down hidden sanctums of devout followers. There, in Mortal Shell’s most hallowed grounds, you must overcome formidable foes and harvest the sacred glands. You won’t be truly alone when the dead litter your path: Scattered across this land are the remnant anima of lost warriors who can be inhabited to gain their unique abilities and knowledge of weapons. The Dark Father is desperate for you to complete your task — but to what end?"

While Mortal Shell won't be released until later this year, players can head to MortalShells.com to learn how they can sign up for a limited closed beta. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Both Microsoft and Sony have reiterated that the companies plan to release their next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PS5 respectively, during the holiday 2020 season. And even as the world, including development teams and manufacturing facilities, deal day-by-day with the effects of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, Microsoft is focusing on launch as already planned, so much so that an alternative, "plan B" launch hasn't yet been something the company is working on. Speaking with IGN's Ryan McCaffrey on the latest episode of our weekly Xbox show Podcast Unlocked, which you can watch below, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer said in response to a question about what precautions the company is taking in light of COVID-19, that "We haven't really started on any kind of plan b, as you asked about." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/01/interview-head-of-xbox-phil-spencer-unlocked-437"] "We have nothing right now that says we're not going to make the dates that we've been planning," Spencer said, noting, however, the uncertainty of the world we're living in. "But this is real time stuff, and i'm going to put the safety and security of the teams at the top, along with a quality product. I don't want to rush a product out if it's not ready." And Spencer said that safety is paramount to the decisions Microsoft is making in response to the crisis. "The thing that i'm going to put front and center is safety and security of the team," he said. "There's no decision I will make, or frankly, anybody at Microsoft would even ask me to make that would compromise the safety and security of the teams for a near-term either financial or product gain. The teams are the most important thing." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=9-new-xbox-series-x-images&captions=true"] Spencer declined to hypothesize about any sort of what-if scenarios should any kind of delay be necessary due to COVID-19's impact on hardware production and software development. And while IGN has recently spoken to several analysts who have posited that COVID-19 might not cause a next-gen delay but possible shortage of availability, Spencer was adamant that one of the biggest lessons learned after the Xbox One launch was the detriment of delayed launches in different territories. "I will say, having lived through the Xbox One launch, I know that significant delays in region launches hurt us. It hurt us with the sentiment of the fans. Every time i go to japan, I'm reminded that we were nine months late in launching there with Xbox One," he said. Spencer also spoke a bit about the launch of Series X, noting that if everything else — the hardware, services, etc. — are ready to go, there's no one game he'd hold back launch for. And yes, that even likely means Halo Infinite. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-xbox-one-first-party-review&captions=true"] "If everything was there, for the software and the services and the hardware, I don't think i would hold it for any individual game," Spencer said. "Obviously the big one you think about is Halo, it's so iconic with the [original Xbox] launch. Bonnie [Ross] and the [343 Industries] team are doing a really good job on Halo Infinite right now. They're learning as well just as we all are. We'll go in eyes wide open on what we're trying to get done, but I don't think we'd hold the launch of the overall platform for any individual game." Reiterating the focus on the safety of his teams and the uncertain nature of the world as it responds to COVID-19, Spencer also spoke at length about the next-generation of Xbox, including how he feels it stacks up so far to the PS5, as well as diving deeper on why the Series X doesn't have an optical port. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/27/ps5-xbox-series-x-no-delay-concerns-yet-next-gen-console-watch"] Xbox Series X is scheduled to be released during Holiday 2020. RIght now we know the Xbox Series X specs, we have an educated guess on its price based on those specs, and a full comparison with PS5. What we know far less about is Xbox Series X games, but we have a list of confirmed and rumoured titles for the next-gen console. You can watch the full episode of Podcast Unlocked above, where Spencer also talks about the company feeling good about competing against PS5's power and price, and the practical reasons for why the console doesn't have an optical port. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor and host of Podcast Beyond! Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Both Microsoft and Sony have reiterated that the companies plan to release their next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PS5 respectively, during the holiday 2020 season. And even as the world, including development teams and manufacturing facilities, deal day-by-day with the effects of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, Microsoft is focusing on launch as already planned, so much so that an alternative, "plan B" launch hasn't yet been something the company is working on. Speaking with IGN's Ryan McCaffrey on the latest episode of our weekly Xbox show Podcast Unlocked, which you can watch below, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer said in response to a question about what precautions the company is taking in light of COVID-19, that "We haven't really started on any kind of plan b, as you asked about." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/01/interview-head-of-xbox-phil-spencer-unlocked-437"] "We have nothing right now that says we're not going to make the dates that we've been planning," Spencer said, noting, however, the uncertainty of the world we're living in. "But this is real time stuff, and i'm going to put the safety and security of the teams at the top, along with a quality product. I don't want to rush a product out if it's not ready." And Spencer said that safety is paramount to the decisions Microsoft is making in response to the crisis. "The thing that i'm going to put front and center is safety and security of the team," he said. "There's no decision I will make, or frankly, anybody at Microsoft would even ask me to make that would compromise the safety and security of the teams for a near-term either financial or product gain. The teams are the most important thing." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=9-new-xbox-series-x-images&captions=true"] Spencer declined to hypothesize about any sort of what-if scenarios should any kind of delay be necessary due to COVID-19's impact on hardware production and software development. And while IGN has recently spoken to several analysts who have posited that COVID-19 might not cause a next-gen delay but possible shortage of availability, Spencer was adamant that one of the biggest lessons learned after the Xbox One launch was the detriment of delayed launches in different territories. "I will say, having lived through the Xbox One launch, I know that significant delays in region launches hurt us. It hurt us with the sentiment of the fans. Every time i go to japan, I'm reminded that we were nine months late in launching there with Xbox One," he said. Spencer also spoke a bit about the launch of Series X, noting that if everything else — the hardware, services, etc. — are ready to go, there's no one game he'd hold back launch for. And yes, that even likely means Halo Infinite. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-xbox-one-first-party-review&captions=true"] "If everything was there, for the software and the services and the hardware, I don't think i would hold it for any individual game," Spencer said. "Obviously the big one you think about is Halo, it's so iconic with the [original Xbox] launch. Bonnie [Ross] and the [343 Industries] team are doing a really good job on Halo Infinite right now. They're learning as well just as we all are. We'll go in eyes wide open on what we're trying to get done, but I don't think we'd hold the launch of the overall platform for any individual game." Reiterating the focus on the safety of his teams and the uncertain nature of the world as it responds to COVID-19, Spencer also spoke at length about the next-generation of Xbox, including how he feels it stacks up so far to the PS5, as well as diving deeper on why the Series X doesn't have an optical port. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/27/ps5-xbox-series-x-no-delay-concerns-yet-next-gen-console-watch"] Xbox Series X is scheduled to be released during Holiday 2020. RIght now we know the Xbox Series X specs, we have an educated guess on its price based on those specs, and a full comparison with PS5. What we know far less about is Xbox Series X games, but we have a list of confirmed and rumoured titles for the next-gen console. You can watch the full episode of Podcast Unlocked above, where Spencer also talks about the company feeling good about competing against PS5's power and price, and the practical reasons for why the console doesn't have an optical port. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor and host of Podcast Beyond! Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Despite appearing in some early preview shots, the Xbox Series X will not have an S/PDIF optical audio out port. In today’s episode of Unlocked with Phil Spencer, the Xbox boss re-confirmed the absence and went into detail as to why Microsoft decided to build its next-gen console without the optical audio port. Spencer, who has a background in software development, revealed how his role in leading Xbox brought him closer to the hardware development side of the business, and how when designing a mass-produced consumer product, there are factors like price, space, and usage come into play. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/01/interview-head-of-xbox-phil-spencer-unlocked-437"] “I’m going to use kind of weird terms, but the marginal cost of everything is important,” Spencer said to IGN. “So if you look at a part on a console that’s maybe one, or two dollars and you say, ‘okay, how big of a deal is that inside of a console?’ That’s a few hundred dollars. But then you say, ‘okay, we’re going to plan to sell, you know, 100 million of these consoles.’ So you take two bucks over 100 million now you’re $200 million over the life of the program.” Spencer also revealed that there were spatial considerations, meaning getting the actual component to fit in the console but also how many people use the optical audio port. “We also, frankly, know how many people use it today on the console. So I know you do, but we see it. So we also kind of do the math of we have to put a part in every console that X percent of people use, is there a better place for us to spend that money if we can support it in different ways.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=9-new-xbox-series-x-images&captions=true"] The decision to remove the optical audio port wasn’t a surprise to Xbox’s audio partners like Astro who make third-party headsets for game consoles, and whose high-end equipment requires the port. “We had a conversation with the headset manufacturers prior to all of this. So when we stood up and said your accessories are going to work, we weren’t kind of walking a tightrope there. We’d already had the conversations.” And Astro announced that it’s working with Microsoft on a firmware update for its MixAmp Pro TR, A50, and Base Station and A20 headsets for them to be compatible with the Xbox Series X at launch through the USB. “You know there’s all of these decisions are things that we think through very deeply and try to figure out where the plans are,” said Spencer. “And I know with everything that we don’t do that we used to do, there’s going to be somebody who’s disappointed and it’s not the funnest part of the job, but I think we have a plan for the future.” Audio on the Xbox Series X will run through HDMI 2.1, which outputs both audio and video up to 8K with Dolby Atmos. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/16/microsoft-reveals-full-xbox-series-x-tech-specs"] You can check out IGN’s full interview with Spencer on the new episode of Podcast Unlocked where he reveals details about the current status of the console amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and competing with the PS5. Also, check out IGN’s full breakdown of the Xbox Series X and how it compares to the known specs of the PS5. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Despite appearing in some early preview shots, the Xbox Series X will not have an S/PDIF optical audio out port. In today’s episode of Unlocked with Phil Spencer, the Xbox boss re-confirmed the absence and went into detail as to why Microsoft decided to build its next-gen console without the optical audio port. Spencer, who has a background in software development, revealed how his role in leading Xbox brought him closer to the hardware development side of the business, and how when designing a mass-produced consumer product, there are factors like price, space, and usage come into play. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/01/interview-head-of-xbox-phil-spencer-unlocked-437"] “I’m going to use kind of weird terms, but the marginal cost of everything is important,” Spencer said to IGN. “So if you look at a part on a console that’s maybe one, or two dollars and you say, ‘okay, how big of a deal is that inside of a console?’ That’s a few hundred dollars. But then you say, ‘okay, we’re going to plan to sell, you know, 100 million of these consoles.’ So you take two bucks over 100 million now you’re $200 million over the life of the program.” Spencer also revealed that there were spatial considerations, meaning getting the actual component to fit in the console but also how many people use the optical audio port. “We also, frankly, know how many people use it today on the console. So I know you do, but we see it. So we also kind of do the math of we have to put a part in every console that X percent of people use, is there a better place for us to spend that money if we can support it in different ways.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=9-new-xbox-series-x-images&captions=true"] The decision to remove the optical audio port wasn’t a surprise to Xbox’s audio partners like Astro who make third-party headsets for game consoles, and whose high-end equipment requires the port. “We had a conversation with the headset manufacturers prior to all of this. So when we stood up and said your accessories are going to work, we weren’t kind of walking a tightrope there. We’d already had the conversations.” And Astro announced that it’s working with Microsoft on a firmware update for its MixAmp Pro TR, A50, and Base Station and A20 headsets for them to be compatible with the Xbox Series X at launch through the USB. “You know there’s all of these decisions are things that we think through very deeply and try to figure out where the plans are,” said Spencer. “And I know with everything that we don’t do that we used to do, there’s going to be somebody who’s disappointed and it’s not the funnest part of the job, but I think we have a plan for the future.” Audio on the Xbox Series X will run through HDMI 2.1, which outputs both audio and video up to 8K with Dolby Atmos. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/16/microsoft-reveals-full-xbox-series-x-tech-specs"] You can check out IGN’s full interview with Spencer on the new episode of Podcast Unlocked where he reveals details about the current status of the console amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and competing with the PS5. Also, check out IGN’s full breakdown of the Xbox Series X and how it compares to the known specs of the PS5. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has said he feels "really good" about how Xbox Series X lines up against PlayStation 5, on power and price – but says Series X pricing will "stay agile" in the run up to launch. Speaking to IGN's Podcast Unlocked, Spencer was asked how he felt after watching the PS5 tech specs reveal with Mark Cerny, and how Xbox Series X stacks up against its key rival: "No doubt, I felt really good about how Series X lines up. Now, I think Mark and the team did some really good work on the audio processing that they talked about, their SSD technology is impressive, we like that. We saw the work that they did. But you know, we we took a holistic view on our platform, from CPU, to GPU, to RAM, to throughput velocity architecture, latency, back compat – you know, it took us years to get to this point. "I will definitely have respect for any platform team that's launching, it just takes a lot of work. But I will say, when we finally saw the public disclosure, I felt even better about the choices that we made on our platform. And I kind of expected that I would." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/01/interview-head-of-xbox-phil-spencer-unlocked-437"] It's a confident response, and Spencer continued that line of thinking with regard to one major unknown for both next-gen consoles – price. The Xbox boss explained that Microsoft began with a solid price target for Series X (one he doesn't disclose), and whether that could alter depending on Sony's choices: "You have to set a price target at the beginning for yourselves. And then you kind of roll in as you see the competition come in and start to go to market planning. I feel good about the price that we're going to be able to get to. I feel good about the price and the performance capabilities that we have with Series X. I feel incredibly strong about the overall package." "We're definitely going to be continuing to keep our eyes wide open as we go towards launch, looking at what the competition is doing, but you know, we have a plan and we feel very solid about our plan. We think it's a winning plan. I believe we have a plan that can win, we've got to go execute. But I feel really good about the plan that we put together." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-xbox-one-first-party-review&captions=true"] Famously, Sony was able to undercut Xbox One's price when it revealed the PS4 at E3 2013, a move many saw as calculated, perhaps even pivoted to at the event. Asked if Microsoft was able to make the same kind of moves, and be flexible about the Series X price, Spencer explained that the PS5's price point was absolutely being taken into account ahead of launch: "We're getting incredible support from Microsoft [...] they're very linked into what our plans are, and we're going to make sure we stay agile on our pricing, and that we have a good plan going into launch." [ignvideo url="https://uk.ign.com/videos/ps5-xbox-series-x-no-delay-concerns-yet-next-gen-console-watch"] You can watch the full episode of Podcast Unlocked above, where Spencer also talks about Microsoft isn't working on a Plan B for Series X's launch, and the practical reasons for why the console doesn't have an optical port. Xbox Series X is scheduled to be released during Holiday 2020. RIght now we know the Xbox Series X specs, we have an educated guess on its price based on those specs, and a full comparison with PS5. What we know far less about is Xbox Series X games, but we have a list of confirmed and rumoured titles for the next-gen console. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News, and he has intuited from this piece that Xbox has a plan. Follow him on Twitter.