Tech
Peter Graham 0

Ever since the release of the Xbox Series X and S, if you’ve wanted to expand the lightning-fast internal storage you’ve had to buy a Seagate card. Well no more, because today the first Western Digital Xbox expansion cards are going on sale, starting from a fairly reasonable $79.99 USD.

Just like the Seagate versions, the cards from Western Digital are solid-state drive (SSD) cards. Designed to solely work with Microsoft’s proprietary storage architecture. While they’re easier to fit than PlayStation 5’s M.2 SSDs, the Seagate cards have been far costlier due to the lack of competition from other vendors.

Western Digital Xbox Expansion Black C50 in White XBox

That’s now come to an end, most notably last month when the Seagate drives saw their first permanent price cut. The 512GB model dropped to $90, whilst the 1TB and 2TB versions came down to $150 (previously $220) and $280 (previously $400), respectively.

Western Digital Xbox Series X|S Expansion Card Price

There will be two Western Digital cards available, 512GB and 1TB models.

WD_BLACK C50 Expansion Card for Xbox Release Date

Today, 7th June 2023. UK customers will need to buy direct from the Western Digital store for now. But those in the US will find the cards on Amazon and other retailers.

Is an expansion card for Xbox Series X worth it?

That all depends on how many games to want to be installed and easily accessible. A conventional USB drive can be used to play XBox One games and archive Series X|S titles, but you can’t play them directly. The WD and Seagate expansion cards are no different to the internal storage, giving you far more flexibility when storing and playing games…for a price.

With the recent price drops the cards are more attractive than ever. Or you could wait for sales like Black Friday for an even better bargain.

How do you use a Storage Expansion Card on Xbox Series X?

The cards are designed to be plug-and-play. Take the card out of the box, make sure your Xbox is updated, and pop it in the dedicated expansion slot on the back. That’s it. You can go into settings>storage to see the card and how much space is available. Remember, unfortunately, you won’t get the full 512GB/1TB capacity because the cards have software on them to function.

That’s the new Xbox Series X|S storage options. Will you be upgrading? Let us know in the comments below.

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