A huge issue in the current console industry is that scalpers in the industry are ruining the stock for PS5 and Series X consoles. People will go out of their way with bots to destroy the market by buying the new console and marking it up to a higher price and reselling it online for a profit. Players have been very vocal to Sony and Microsoft to do something about this issue, as actual gamers can’t get their hands on the console. Consider when one person bought 43 PS5’s and sold them at $900 for the digital and $1,100 for the disc drive version. Xbox has decided to do something about it and has started the Xbox Series X|S Console pilot program.

The Xbox Series X|S pilot program is a program that brings the new Xbox to the hands of genuine and only genuine Xbox fans. Players who get chosen for the pilot program will find themselves able to get an Xbox Series X by reserving one on the Xbox insider app on the console. In contrast, the concept behind the Xbox pilot program is to stop scalpers from getting their hands on the Series X by only reserving consoles for people who currently own the Xbox One. 

Beyond that, Microsoft knows that players who reserve a console will have an Xbox insider account and an Xbox One since the process needs to be completed through the Xbox console. This means that bot programs that fill up the cart of online retailers and sell out consoles online will be stopped as those programs won’t be used on the Xbox. While this is great for Xbox fans, players who don’t own an Xbox One will have to wait until the console can be bought the old-fashioned way.  

Microsoft knows that this isn’t an ideal solution. They are confident that the program will be efficient enough in bringing the Xbox consoles to players who they know will get the most use out of it, hopefully with the rollout of the Xbox Series X|S pilot program in North America. Sony will follow suit with their version of the program to help PS4 players get their hands on a PS5.

Currently, the program is only available in North America. Players who sign up for the program aren’t guaranteed to get a reservation on the console anytime soon. With console shortages and the wait increasing, this is a small step in the right direction for Xbox.