Xbox Dev Explains Major Design Challenges Caused By The 1TB Xbox Series S

It’s only been a few months since Microsoft first released the 1TB version of the Xbox Series S onto the market, and it seems like it’s been a hit so far. However, the actual design of this model was seemingly a major headache for the developers over at Microsoft, and that’s simply because of its “Carbon Black” colour.

Xbox’s Chris Kujawski recently sat down with Mobile Syrup to explain how difficult it was to create the Carbon Black 1TB Series S, explaining that the new colour introduced loads of cosmetic problems compared to the original white version such as discolouration, weird spots, weld lines that “looked like tiny cracks in the plastic” and “certain parts coming out shiny instead of matte”.

While the Xbox Series X team would obviously have faced these issues once upon a time as well, it was apparently easier for them as they were able to build around (and ultimately hide) any blemishes during the design process. For the Carbon Black Xbox Series S, these blemishes had to be worked around rather than designed around.

Here’s a bit of what Chris Kujawski had to say:

“We had actually pretty much every type of cosmetic issue you can have on a plastic part.”

“It took more engineering builds and cost more money than it typically would or than we that we had initially scoped. But there was no pushback, no complaints about that. It was understood… we have to get it right.”

Ultimately, Chris and his team were able to bypass these challenges and create a fantastic console in the form of the 1TB Carbon Black Xbox Series S, but clearly it took a lot more effort than anyone had anticipated.

Chris actually says it’s the “simplest, most complicated project” that he’s ever been a part of in his 16 years at Microsoft as a designer! Who’d have thought a simple colour change would throw up so many hurdles…

“I think this is the simplest, most complicated project that I’ve ever worked on.”