Xbox Series X and S pre-orders go on sale and one website crashes

Xbox Series X and S pre-orders are available today and rapidly selling out across the world, with one website hit by demand.

Although the consoles won't be

physically available until 10 November

• for £249 for the smaller Xbox Series S, and £449 for the flagship Series X - consumers wishing to avoid the queues can purchase theirs online today.

Demand appears to be very high with pre-order stock of the Series X completely selling out in Australia, while in the UK the website for high street retailer Game going down this morning as customers tried to use the site.

Image:The website for Game was down while 'dealing with large volumes of customers'

Game told Sky News: "Xbox customers have come out in force with an exceptional response to pre-orders going live at 8am this morning, in-store and online. We're dealing with large volumes of customers visiting our website and are working hard to serve their needs."

A number of retailers in the UK have sold out of the Series X, although the Series S is still available at most outlets.

When pre-orders went live for Sony's rival console the PlayStation 5 they sold out in significantly less than an hour.

According to Microsoft, customers in 12 countries - including the UK, US, Australia and South Korea - will be able to pay for the consoles and a gaming pass through a monthly plan starting at $24.99 for two years.

The cheaper Series S will not have a disc drive and will have lower specifications than the Series X, relying on users to download and stream games.

Image:The new Xbox console will be launched without Halo Infinite. Pic: Microsoft

Despite this Microsoft said the Series S will "deliver everything that is core to next-generation gaming - faster load times, higher frame rates, and richer, more dynamic worlds".

The main difference between the two versions is the graphics resolution, with the Series S graphics processing unit not as powerful as the Series X, and being unable to output 4K video.

While there are also

two new PlayStation 5 consoles

, with the flagship model retailing for the same £449, the cheaper digital edition which also doesn't have a disc drive will cost £359 - £110 more than the cheaper Series S - because Sony said it does not have lower specs.

The new PS5s will be available in the UK from 19 November.