Telstra, an Australian telecom company partnered with Microsoft, recently sent out a mass message to its customers claiming "pre-orders for the Xbox Series X with Xbox All Access will open soon" (via Press Start).
If this is true, it could line up with rumors that suggest Microsoft intends to hold an event in August where we could get a price reveal and further information about when we can order the console.
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Obviously, "soon" is vague terminology and this doesn't really change much as far as our pre-order expectations go. That's because Telstra advertises its own services within the same message, claiming that the pre-order is "exclusive to Telstra customers" and that they'll need to purchase "a postpaid mobile, mobile broadband or home internet service" to get exclusive access to this offer.
Any company looking to boost the sales of its service could send a message out like this, even if it didn't know when the Xbox Series X will actually open up for pre-orders. We all know that we're going to be able to order next-gen consoles "soon," so making a guess like this would always be accurate even if pre-orders opened up tomorrow or in several months.
Of course, as Telstra works with Microsoft through its Xbox All Access program, the company might have legitimate information about when we'll see pre-orders open. Xbox All Access is a service that allows users to pay $20 a month to gain access to an Xbox One console and slowly pay it off along with 24 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
This is obviously an incredible deal, and it also seems companies like Telstra intend to give subscribers of this program early access to pre-order the console. Whether Microsoft will make pre-orders accessible early for Xbox All Access subscribers across the board is currently unclear.
There have also been rumors of Microsoft holding an Xbox event in August, where they might reveal the highly anticipated Xbox Series S, so this could be what Telstra means by "soon."
