The Xbox Series X preorder was a disaster

By Chris Burns/Sept. 22, 2020 10:57 am EST

Today the official Microsoft Xbox Series X pre-order system was launched... and quickly crashed. If you're looking for the Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, or any other product from the Microsoft store online this morning, you might do better to wait. As masses of Xbox fans attempted to purchase the new console lineup before the release date in November, the Microsoft Store took a bit of a nose dive.

Potential customers this morning attempted to order the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S only to find the message "An error occurred while processing your request." Best Buy's site does not have a pre-order button as of 10:45 AM Central Time.

It appeared that connected site servers like Update (dot) Microsoft (dot) com were down starting earlier this morning. You may be able to access the store itself, but the specific listing pages for the Xbox Series X and S were completely out of commission as of 10:30 AM Central Time.

SEE TOO: It's Xbox Series X and S preorder day – where to buy, cost, All Access

A similar situation appeared to pop up at retailers that'd otherwise ALSO have pre-orders available for the Xbox Series X and S. At approximately 10:45 Central Time (AM) the Amazon page for Xbox Series X refuses to load fully ("Sorry something went wrong on our end.")

UPDATE: As of 10:52 AM Central Time, Walmart has an "out of stock" tag on the Xbox Series X.

The Target store listing for the Xbox Series X was able to load – and appeared to stay active throughout the morning – but the "Preorder now" button did not appear to connect. Either Target's order system wasn't connected properly, or they've set up in a way that any overload due to traffic will result in a site that looks fine, but does not function.

If you're looking to buy an Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S from a GameStop location in November, you may want to double-check in-person with an associate that you'll have access. Our chat with an (anonymous by request) GameStop-adjacent source suggested today that they'll have a dozen or less of each console on launch day, if they're lucky. That may only be for one region or another – but we'll see.