Pre-orders for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are slated to go live starting September 22 at 8AM (PT). This will give consumers plenty of time to get an order in ahead of the official launch date of November 10 for both consoles. This pre-order date has been known about for quite some time now.
However, following the sloppy pre-order phase of the PlayStation 5, Microsoft is taking steps to ensure retailers stick to the specified time and won't jump the gun. According to Geoff Keighley, Microsoft is going to penalize retailers that break the specific pre-order time.
Specifically, Microsoft will penalize retailers that break the embargo times by lowering allocations of hardware that are sent out. Those retailers will get less shipments, and thus fewer customers, and ultimately lower profits for the store. It is assumed that the orders that are diverted away from these retailers will be sent to other retailers instead.
