The first video came from @Arek_Adamowicz from Poland. It shows thick white smoke rising from the Xbox Series X. The second video is from Reddit. It shows a similar plume of smoke that rises from the vents.

The Xbox Series X is designed to suck cold air from under the console and run it through the components using a large fan. This makes it incredibly easy to fake videos like the ones above by blowing smoke from another source ( like this ) into the console. Note that the length of both videos is only a few seconds, which indirectly confirms the theory of a fake. The fact that @Arek_Adamowicz’s video is cropped at the bottom could also indicate that smoke is being supplied from a different source underneath the console itself.

Also, if the components inside the Xbox Series X really caught fire, they would ignite or melt the plastic of the console, which is not visible in the cutscenes.

Xbox Series X, like the PlayStation 5, and other modern devices have an automatic shutdown function when temperatures are much higher than normal. Microsoft engineers also test the consoles inside large “toasters” to make sure they don’t pose a fire hazard and stay cool enough even in warm climates. In our Xbox Series X review, we pointed out how hot the system gets when gaming and the temperatures were far from the limits.

Finally, let’s say a small piece of plastic falls into the air vent of the Xbox Series X – there is simply no flammable material in the consoles. Even rare cases of smartphone fires are almost always due to battery problems that are missing from non-portable gaming systems.

Xbox Series X and S went on sale yesterday, November 10th.