Western Digital unveils new storage cards for Xbox Series X/S in licensing deal with Microsoft

Western Digital is officially announcing two new storage cards in the WD_Black C50 series for the Xbox Series X and S. The external SSDs are part of a licensing deal with Microsoft and are available in 512GB and 1TB storage configurations.

The storage card uses a proprietary interface called Xbox Velocity Architecture. Because of this, the read and write speeds of the WD_Black C50 should be the same as the internal storage. The 512GB and 1TB cards are available as of this writing for 95 and 160 euros respectively, provides Western Digital.

The storage expansion is supplied in a protective housing. After removing the protective cover, the card can be inserted into the Storage Expansion Port of an Xbox Series X or S, after which the internal memory is expanded. Users can store games on the SSD and play them from the card. Quick Resume also works on games stored on the stick. The WD_Black C50 is not tied to one console, so gamers can take their games with them and continue playing on another Xbox Series console.

The storage card in question was already spotted on various webshops at the beginning of April, but was not officially announced at the time. Besides Western Digital, only Seagate makes officially licensed storage sticks for the Xbox Series X and S. According to the Pricewatch, the 512GB and 1TB variants average about 41 and 36 percent more expensive, respectively, than Western Digital’s suggested retail prices for the same thing at the time of writing. storage capacities. Looking only at the lowest prices, the prices differ considerably less. Seagate also offers a variant with 2TB storage space.