The Xbox Series S is positioned as cheaper and more accessible than the Xbox Series X, but with inferior performance. However, recently revealed specs reveal that this performance is significantly worse in one key area.

According to a post on r/XboxSeriesX by Reddit user spead20, who already owns a Series S, the Series S's 512GB SSD has only 364GB of free space for gaming. Factoring in the space taken up by the operating system, the new console could reportedly use about 70% of the total ad storage.

The 148 GB for the operating system is almost the same size as the Xbox One's operating system, thus setting a precedent. Similarly, the Series X, which has a 1TB SSD, appears to allocate 20% of that for the OS. A little research suggests that the Series X's software capacity is around 200 GB, making the Series S figure more plausible.

The silver lining here is that Microsoft says that games on the Series S will take up less space than the same games stored on the Series X.

Of course, if you want more capacity, Xbox will sell special memory expansion cards for 220 pounds. These are very expensive, but they use the same technology as the main SSD, so they promise the same speed as the default storage. Alternatively, you can use other USB HDDs or SSDs you have on hand, but they can only be used for Xbox One games, as the new storage system is required for Series X/S games to run properly.

On the other side of the next generation console wars, the PS5 also has an SSD, which has a capacity of 825 GB. Also, according to previous rumors, about 20% is reserved for OS functions, leaving 625 GB for games. This is a similar story to the Xbox, but the official storage expansion for the PS5 is $115 for an additional 500GB, a much more generous offer than the Xbox.

With game capacities continuing to increase to support more advanced graphics and other features, additional storage may be a must for all but the lightest users of the new consoles Both the PS5 and Xbox Series X will be available next week.