Seagate has been the sole provider of Storage Expansion Cards for the Xbox Series X and Series S since both consoles launched, but now a rival has hit the market.
Like the existing add-on, the WD_Black C50 Expansion Card for Xbox plugs into the back of either the Series X or S and increased the amount of storage available for current-gen games. However, it has the added bonus of being cheaper than its rival.
Two sizes are available – 1TB and 512GB – and you can expect to pay $149.99 / £149.99 and $79.99 / £89.99 for them respectively. That’s not only less than the existing alternative at launch, it’s better on the pocket even now. The Seagate 512GB version is currently £109.69 on Amazon in the UK, for example.
Why do you need an official Xbox Expansion Card?
Unlike the PlayStation 5, which can be expanded through multiple third-party SSD cards, the Xbox Series X and S can only run optimised current-gen games stored on either the internal SSD or a plug-in Expansion Card (which slots into the rear).
That’s because the higher-spec, dedicated Series X/S games require what Xbox calls “Velocity Architecture” technology to run. Only the Seagate and now WD_Black options are compatible.
You can attach USB hard drives to the Xbox Series X and S consoles too, but only Xbox One, Xbox 360 and original Xbox games can be run from that kind of storage.
Both variants of the WD_Black C50 card are available on Western Digital’s online store now. We’re awaiting a wider rollout to other retailers, which will hopefully be soon.
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