Xbox series X stock – live: Latest UK restock news from Asda, Smyths, Game and more

Happy Wednesday, everyone and welcome back to the Xbox series X liveblog.

Today, I’ll be taking you through all the places you will be able to land yourself an Xbox series X as soon as they become available. We’ll be tracking the movements of every major retailer and will update the liveblog as soon as we are aware of any stock drops as well as offer any tips on how best to secure one.

Stay with us to be the first through the checkout.

Well that’s all from us. Thank you for following the Xbox stock tracking liveblog today, you little rockstar.

The situation report as the night draws in? Asda and Smyths Toys are selling Xbox All Access to anyone who can afford £28.99 per month for 24 months, and can pass the Klarna credit check to prove it.

If you’re a free-wheeling spirit who can’t be tied down by any payment plan, and you want to buy an Xbox series X for £449 over the counter like our grandparents used to do, then join us again tomorrow when we’ll be resuming the hunt.

The Xbox series X has impeccable built-in security when playing games online, but there reasons besides security to install a VPN for the Xbox.

If you use your Xbox as your main entertainment hub, a virtual private network allows you to spoof your location and access telly shows and movies not normally available in your country, such as those found on American Netflix, which is full of amazing things they don’t want British people seeing. You can’t install a VPN directly to an Xbox series X, but you can install one on your internet router to anonymise all of the web traffic in your home in one fell swoop.

If handheld gaming is more your thing then check out our review of the new Nintendo Switch OLED (£309.99, Argos.co.uk). The console features an OLED display for the first time, which is larger than before and produces punchier colours and deeper blacks. There’s also a redesigned kickstand and double the internal storage of its predecessor.

Our reviewer said of the £309.99 console: “The larger display is fantastic and playing games in handheld mode is an absolute joy. The kickstand feels so solid and makes us never want to look at that little toggle on the back of the original Switch ever again…this is absolutely the best version of the console yet.”

As fans clamour to get their hands on the most advanced member of the Xbox family, demand for the less powerful Xbox series S is smaller and so the console is easy to find in stock pretty much everywhere.

The Xbox series S is a brilliant games machine however, and a viable alternative to the more expensive Xbox series X. The console is backwards compatible and runs the same next-generation Xbox games, but with some of the fancier graphics options dialled down. It doesn’t have a disc drive, so you can only play downloaded games. The hard drive is also half as big.

There’s now an official Xbox series S + Fortnite + Rocket League bundle on the shelves too, costing £249. You can find it at Very, Game, Amazon and more.

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Gaming chairs might seem like a specialist piece of furniture, but an ergonomic seat helps you play for longer and supports good posture, especially if you’re over 30 and make a “hrngh” noise whenever you sit down or stand up or move slightly.

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Aside from a teensy restock one week ago, Amazon has been missing the Xbox series X since early December. Just before Christmas the retailer treated us to an enormous restock – the biggest and longest-lasting we’ve seen at Amazon since launch – which suggests that the well has run dry for now.

The world’s largest online retailer is predicted to have new PS5 stock arriving this week, so we’re hoping that fresh Xbox stock will follow.

If you can’t wait until then, Amazon currently has the less powerful Xbox series S in stock (£249, Amazon.co.uk).

We track every online retailer at once to catch the Xbox series X the moment it appears on sale.

Keeping track of available Xbox stock in physical shops is trickier, but it can be done. We rely on tips from shoppers and reports from social media to pinpoint the next-generation console popping up out there in the real world.

Here are some tips for finding the Xbox series X in stock in stores:

• Argos, AO and Smyths Toys are often rumoured to have the Xbox available in stores. To a lesser extent we’ve heard of John Lewis & Partners, Currys and Game restocking their shelves.
• Plug your post code into the retailer’s online product page to check for local stock. If you can, scroll around to peek at other stores farther away from you.
• Xbox not in stock? Don’t lose hope. Many stores don’t log returns or uncollected Xbox pre-orders back into their stock systems. Pop into your local shop in person and ask a member of staff.

Sony’s console is suffering with the same supply chain issues dogging every piece of high-end electronics out there right now, so it’s about as difficult to find in stock as the Xbox series X.

Whether you’re searching for a PS5 today, or you’re generally interested in the stock situation on the other side of the aisle, we’ve launched our PS5 stock tracking liveblog to keep you up to date with the latest news on availability of Sony’s next-generation console. Right now we’re tracking a drop at the BT Store.