Tech Transformers

Microsoft says demand for Xbox One X is 'exactly where we anticipated, even more'

Key Points
  • Demand for the Microsoft Xbox One X is "super high," Panos Panay, the company's head of devices, told CNBC
  • The Xbox One X console is being released on November 7
  • Panay hinted that so-called "mixed reality" experiences could be coming to the Xbox
Demand for new Xbox console ‘super high,’ Microsoft exec
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Demand for new Xbox console ‘super high,’ Microsoft exec

Demand for Xbox One X console is "super high" ahead of its release next week, the company's head of devices told CNBC on Tuesday.

The is the high-end version of Microsoft's Xbox games console with souped-up specs aimed at the next generation of gaming.

Microsoft is releasing the device on November 7 and it appears demand has matched expectation.

"I won't talk about the exact numbers but the demand is super high, we are very, very excited about Xbox One X right now," Panos Panay, corporate vice president of devices at Microsoft, told CNBC in a TV interview Tuesday.

"I won't compare it to other consoles. What I'll say is the demand for Xbox One X right now is exactly where we anticipated, even more so when you see that excitement for the product... this is something that resonates with gamers."

But the high demand has also prompted warnings of shortages in some regions. The U.K.'s Xbox head Harvey Eagle said in a recent interview with Gamesindustry.biz that he "can't guarantee that stock will be available in launch week for people to just walk into a store and pick up."

One of the major features highlighted when the Xbox One X was announced was its ability to support virtual reality (VR). PlayStation has a virtual reality offering. So far, however, there has been no VR headset released by Microsoft.

The Microsoft Corp. Xbox One X video game console sits on display during the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Tuesday, June 13, 2017.
Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Instead, it has been focusing on what it dubs "mixed reality," which merges the real and digital worlds. It has a Windows Mixed Reality platform that allows developers to create apps for several of the headsets that have been made by partners such as Dell and .

There are still no mixed reality headsets for the Xbox but Panay said that you may "start to see that happen."

"Mixed reality can span in so many different forms, whether it's off the back of the device, whether it's in virtual reality headsets that you have, or its HoloLens, you are starting to see that span through Windows and that platform for Windows does bring it to life," Panay told CNBC.