Can't find Xbox Series X restock? Here's the best alternative

Can't find Xbox Serial Ten restock? Hither'southward the best culling

(Image credit: Phil Barker/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

The numbers are in, and they confirm what y'all probably suspected: No one tin can find PS5 restock or Xbox Series X restock. According to The NPD Group, a market research house that analyzes video game and hardware sales (among other things), consumer spending on consoles is down 38% compared to a year ago. And the reason why is extremely unproblematic: Consumers can't spend money on gear they can't find.

"November hardware spending fell to its lowest level since November 2016 … driven past a lack of available console inventory," said NPD analyst Mat Piscatella, in a long and enlightening Twitter thread.

US NPD xiii Month Tendency - Hardware dollar sales fell 38% compared to a year ago, leading the market to an overall 10% decline YoY. All categories of spending decreased when compared to November 2020. pic.twitter.com/viOvasLdt4December 13, 2021

Come across more

The thread contains a lot of interesting information, including how well the new Call of Duty and Forza games sold. (Spoilers: Very well.) But Piscatella comes to the same decision that Tom'south Guide did a few weeks agone: If y'all want a new panel this vacation, it's going to be either the Xbox Serial South, the Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch OLED. In fact, the Switch was the best-selling panel both concluding calendar month and in 2021 in general, due nearly entirely to the fact that people can notice it easily.

There'south not much bespeak in finger-wagging at Microsoft or Sony. The companies are producing PS5 and Xbox Series X hardware as fast as they tin can, and they've both been up-front end about how console product might go even worse before it gets better. Retailers have also made few effective efforts to fight off scalpers, pregnant that the U.S. government might have to step in before the situation improves.

No Xbox Series X? Endeavour Xbox Game Pass

If you want to play adjacent-gen games without a adjacent-gen panel, however, there is ane culling: Xbox Game Pass. We've discussed Xbox Game Pass before in corking item: pay a monthly subscription fee, access a few hundred games for download or streaming, carry your saves over between platforms, etc. One thing that's worth remembering most Xbox Game Laissez passer, notwithstanding, is that information technology works on non-gaming PCs.

I went hands-on with Xbox Deject Gaming on PC when the service launched in May. It worked well then, and it's only gotten better since. If you pay $xv per calendar month for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you tin can stream some of the best Xbox Serial 10 games via Spider web browser, and all yous need to provide is a potent Internet connexion and a controller. You can also play via Android or iOS, although the iOS functionality isn't as strong.

Some of these titles are heavy hitters, including Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, Hades, MLB The Show 21, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Psychonauts ii, Sea of Thieves and more. From Xbox exclusives, to indie fare, to backwards-compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games, there are quite a few titles available, and they all run pretty well.

Granted, Xbox Cloud Gaming has limitations, especially since it'south still technically in beta. You're going to get some lag and stuttering at present so, regardless of how strong your connectedness is, and you can't play in 4K or at 120 frames per second, as y'all could on an Xbox Series X, or on one of the best gaming PCs. Only on the bright side, because Xbox Game Pass carries over your relieve data, y'all'll be able to pick upwardly where you left off when you finally get a Series 10.

I don't know what to wait from Xbox Series 10 restocks, relieve that the situation is going to improve much more than slowly than console-hunters might like. But the data suggests that console availability is trending in the wrong management. You can drive yourself crazy trying to find a device, or y'all can play a lot of the same games via Game Laissez passer. It's upward to you, merely I'd personally rather spend that time actually playing games.

If you want to play the all-time PS5 games, on the other hand, you're pretty much out of luck. At to the lowest degree until Sony launches its own Xbox Game Pass alternative with its rumored Project Spartacus, which would combine PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now.

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you can observe him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi.