Microsoft’s translucent green 25th anniversary Xbox — officially called the Xbox Series X25 — has had its price and release date leaked ahead of an expected official reveal at Gamescom next week. Per Dealabs leaker billbil-kun, who has a near-perfect track record on hardware pricing, the X25 will cost $899.99 in the US and €899.99 in Europe, with a release date of November 27, 2026 — Black Friday. Microsoft has not yet officially confirmed either figure, but is expected to do so at Gamescom during the week of August 25.
What Is the Xbox Series X25?
The Xbox Series X25 is a limited edition version of the Xbox Series X designed to celebrate Xbox’s 25th anniversary — the original console launched in November 2001. It was first revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2026 by Jason Ronald, Xbox’s VP of next generation. The name is a portmanteau: Series X + 25th anniversary. The design is a deliberate callback to the original Xbox’s iconic green colourway, rendered in a see-through translucent green shell rather than the standard matte black of current Series X hardware.
“The Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition respects our history, with the power and performance of the Xbox Series X, including 1TB of storage, and a design that reflects where we’ve been and the community that’s been with us along the way,” Ronald said at the Showcase. “From the moment you power it on, those details come to life. The iconic ‘X’ lights up in green, a nod to the original Xbox start up, complemented by the Xbox 25th Anniversary logo on the front.”
Attendees at the Xbox Games Showcase were told they’d receive one for free. Everyone else has been waiting on pricing since June.
Full X25 Specs and What You Actually Get
- Storage: 1TB SSD — same as the standard Series X disc edition, not an upgraded capacity
- Disc drive: Yes — the X25 includes a disc drive, which is notable given the PS5 Pro at the same price point does not
- Design: Translucent green shell with see-through panels, green illuminated X logo at startup
- Xbox 25th Anniversary logo on the front fascia
- Included controller: Matching translucent green X25 wireless controller (also available separately)
- Performance: Identical to current Xbox Series X — this is not a hardware upgrade, purely a design variant
It bears repeating: the X25 is not more powerful than the standard Series X. It is the same hardware in a different shell. You are paying the premium entirely for the design and the limited-edition status.
Price Context — Is $899 Reasonable?
Whether $899.99 feels acceptable depends heavily on your frame of reference. Here’s how it stacks up against the current Xbox hardware lineup following Microsoft’s most recent price increases:
- Xbox Series X (All-Digital): $749.99
- Xbox Series X (with disc drive): $799.99
- Xbox Series X25 (leaked): $899.99
So the X25 carries a $100 premium over the standard disc-drive Series X. For a limited edition design variant with no performance difference, a $100 premium is arguably within the range of what collector hardware typically commands — previous Xbox special editions have carried similar uplifts. The Galaxy Black Series X 2TB edition, which has since been discontinued, was $799.99 before it was pulled, and the X25 at $899.99 is now Microsoft’s most expensive home console ever sold.
The uncomfortable comparison is with the PlayStation 5 Pro, also priced at $899.99 — but Sony’s console ships with 2TB of storage, a significantly upgraded GPU for 4K gaming, and hardware-level performance improvements that justify the premium in a way the X25 simply can’t claim. One meaningful point in the X25’s favour: it includes a disc drive, which the PS5 Pro does not at that price. That’s not nothing for physical media collectors, but it’s a thin distinction when the underlying hardware is a four-year-old platform in a new shell.
The Standalone X25 Controller — October 20 at $79.99
The matching translucent green X25 wireless controller will be available separately on October 20, 2026 — over a month before the console itself. Pricing per billbil-kun’s earlier leak: $79.99 USD / €79.99 EUR / £74.99 GBP / $99.99 CAD.
The controller is included with the X25 console bundle, but standalone availability from October 20 means you can pick it up as an accessory for your existing Series X|S before the console even releases. This was apparently enough for Gamescom pre-orders to be considered — billbil-kun mentioned potential pre-order windows tying to Gamescom timing for the controller specifically, though that hasn’t been confirmed.
The X25 controller features the same translucent green shell as the console, with the internal components visible through the casing — a design philosophy that goes back to the late 1990s era of transparent hardware when the original iMac G3, N64 controllers, and Game Boy Colors all leaned into see-through aesthetics. It’s a genuinely attractive design that will hold up well on a desk even for people who have no intention of buying the full console.
Why Xbox Is Doing a $900 Anniversary Console Right Now
The context for any Xbox hardware pricing conversation in 2026 is the tariff environment. Microsoft raised Xbox Series X pricing from its original $499 launch price to the current $799.99 over the course of 2025 and early 2026, citing tariff uncertainty, logistical costs, and rising memory prices driven by AI data centre demand eating into DRAM supply. Those factors haven’t gone away. Nintendo just confirmed UK Switch 2 pricing will rise again from September 1, 2026, for the same reasons. Console hardware is simply more expensive than it used to be industry-wide, and that backdrop makes the X25’s $899 somewhat less shocking in isolation.
The Black Friday release date is also strategically deliberate. November 27 puts it in the peak gifting window, maximises visibility for a limited-edition product, and creates natural scarcity pressure — people buying holiday gifts on Black Friday for an Xbox fan are more likely to spring for a premium limited edition than they would be in, say, August. Microsoft has done anniversary hardware before — the translucent black 20th Anniversary Special Edition controller in November 2021 is the direct predecessor in spirit — but this is the first time they’ve done a full console variant for an anniversary.
Gamescom is where Microsoft will make all of this official. Xbox has two days of content confirmed at the event with 33 games announced to feature, and the X25 pricing and pre-order window are expected to be formally announced alongside that broader showcase. Given billbil-kun’s track record — accurate on essentially every major hardware price leak in recent memory — the $899.99 figure should be treated as confirmed in all but the official press release.
If you’re building out the full Xbox 25th anniversary collection while you wait for the X25, the Mattel Brick Shop Xbox building set also just went up for pre-order at $329.99 — a 3,509-piece replica of the original console with Halo, Morrowind, and Psychonauts dioramas inside. Together that’s over $1,200 worth of Xbox nostalgia hardware for anyone going all in on the anniversary. The full Gamescom Opening Night Live show on August 25 should also bring formal Xbox announcements including the X25 reveal alongside Witcher 3’s third expansion, FF7 Revelation, and Gears of War: E-Day. And if you want to play something on your current Series X while you wait, the Xbox Free Play Days weekend just wrapped, but Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy hits Game Pass day one on August 27 — probably a better use of $900 than a green box.
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