Amazon has dropped the price of the officially licensed WD Black C50 1TB Xbox Expansion Card to a historical low, with the discount still live even after Prime Day. It’s down 25% from its original list price of $157.99. This makes it cheaper than the Seagate 1TB Expansion Card — also discounted for Prime Day. Given the limited options for storage expansion, the WD Black C50 stands out as one of the best SSD picks for Xbox. We likely won’t see an offer like this again for a long time, so ensure you’re picking this up ASAP before it sells out.
The WD Black C50 is a 1TB NVMe SSD encased in a custom Xbox-compatible shell, making installation remarkably straightforward compared to the more intricate process for PS5 SSD upgrades. Simply insert the Seagate expansion card into the dedicated port on the back of your Xbox.
This expansion card matches the speed of the internal SSD, guaranteeing no loss in performance or increased load times, unlike standard USB drives. With this 1TB expansion card, you can double the storage capacity of your Xbox Series X and triple that of your original white Xbox Series S.
Unlike the PS5, which offers various methods for adding high-speed storage, Xbox consoles rely solely on WD or Seagate expansion cards. This makes grabbing a good deal, like the current offer on the WD Black C50, especially important.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Install Size
There was some panic surrounding the size of this year’s Call of Duty recently after players noticed its Xbox store page yesterday. At the time, the page listed that the game would require a 309.85 GB download for those hoping to hop into the post-Cold War first-person shooter when it launches this fall. That’ll put a pretty big dent in the hard drive of most PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S consoles, so players were, understandably, very concerned.
The company has since cleared up the confusion in a post on X/Twitter, clarifying that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 won’t actually require a 300 GB download despite previous messaging. It’ll still be a big game, so extra storage is recommended, but it won’t be as eye-watering at least. Activision’s hit FPS franchise has been known to demand large amounts of storage in recent years, but fans can rest easier known that Black Ops 6 won’t take up quite as much space.
How to Choose the Best Xbox Series X SSDs
If you’re looking for a plug-and-play SSD ready to run the best Xbox Series X games and support features like Quick Resume and Velocity Architecture, you’re options are limited. That makes deciding on an SSD easy, as the Seagate Storage Expansion Card or WD_Black C50 are basically your only options. Unfortunately, they’re both expensive and hover around the same price for 1TB of storage; we’ve found that 1TB is usually the sweet spot for these SSDs.
When choosing an SSD, look for decent read and write speeds for quick loading and saving. Consider other factors like durability and size, especially if you plan to take your SSD on the go. A 1TB SSD is a good starting point if you have a sizable gaming library, but there are drives available up to 4TB for extensive storage needs.
Best Xbox Prime Day Deals
There’s notably some significant discounts on various Xbox products this Prime Day, including a great deal on a refurbished Xbox Series X, as well as sales on controllers and games. Xbox finds itself in an interesting position lately. Despite Microsoft owning major game publishers like Bethesda and Activision (the creator of Call of Duty!), its hardware is lagging behind both the PS5 and Nintendo Switch. However, Microsoft isn’t remaining complacent. They’re making bold moves, such as enabling Xbox gameplay without the console and increasingly focusing on Xbox Game Pass. These deals are definitely worth checking out.
What Is Amazon Prime Day?
Prime Day is a great opportunity to save some serious cash on your favorite hobbies, at least in my view. The annual summer sale features discounts on thousands of items, with new lightning deals every hour that you won’t want to miss.
As one of the biggest sales events outside of Black Friday, it attracts many companies, including those outside of Amazon, offering exclusive discounts available only on Prime Day. If you’re already a Prime member, you can access the sale without much bother. But, there’s also a free 30-day trial if you’re intrigued and just want to check out some of the new discounts.
Prime Day is absolutely one of the best times to buy physical video games and although you might not find discounts on major consoles during the sale, there are still plenty of deals to check out for Switch, PS5, and Xbox.
Best Amazon Prime Day Deals
Prime Day can be a slog, so if you’re after some easy fix deals, these are the IGN shooping team’s top recommendations for the two-day shopping event. No fuss, just top discounts.
Unicorn Overlord (PS5, Switch) for $34.99Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $34.99Kindle Paperwhite for $134.993-Months of Audible for FreeApple AirPods Pro 2nd Gen with USB for $168.99Samsung 990 Pro 2TB PS5 SSD with Heatsink for $149.99Apple iPad (10th Gen) for $277.99Anker Prime 27,650mAh Power Bank (250W Max Charging) for $119.99
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.
