Vaping is bad for your Xbox Series X's health says Microsoft

Xbox Series X
(Image credit: Microsoft)

In a move that's far from 420-friendly, Microsoft has asked users to not blow vape smoke into Xbox Series X consoles. 

The news comes from the official Xbox Twitter account. The company states the following:

"We can't believe we have to say this, but please do not blow vape smoke into your Xbox Series X."

If you're not up-to-date with the weirdest internet trends, then here's a quick update on why Microsoft felt the need to forewarn users about the dangers of vaping into their next-gen console. It's all a simple misunderstanding.

Basically, a video appeared online claiming that 'smoke' was billowing out of the top of a brand new Xbox Series X, and that it was the result of the console shutting itself down due to a fault. The video is dubious at best, but that still didn't stop some onlookers from worrying for their own next-gen consoles.

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To stop the potential spread of misinformation, a Twitter account called Xbox Studio confirmed that the effect can be replicated with only a sizeable, and dope as heck, vape. Turn the console off and the fans keep whirring for a long enough period of time to blow gaseous vape juice right the way through the vertical chamber design, making it look like the console is on fire, or at the very least ripping fat clouds.

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It's highly improbable that your console would get anywhere close to ignition, by the way, even with some pretty serious neglect. After all, the tech within all has certain limitations for heat generation, such as the primary chips' T-Junction limit, which is essentially the maximum temperature a chip will allow itself to reach before taking its foot off the pedal and dropping power and thermal demands.

And the chip at the centre of the Xbox Series X is built from the very same architecture as the upcoming RX 6000-series GPUs: RDNA 2. Sure the Series X is reportedly a little on the hot side, but we've seen some steaming PCs over the years and none ready to combust.

Microsoft notes a link to its support website, which it says is for all non-vape related support questions. There, the company lists some actual known issues with its console right now, including some 4K/120Hz compatibility issues regarding VRR and firmware, some Quick Resume quirkiness, and some incompatible apps.

Jacob Ridley
Senior Hardware Editor

Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog. From there, he graduated to professionally breaking things as hardware writer at PCGamesN, and would go on to run the team as hardware editor. Since then he's joined PC Gamer's top staff as senior hardware editor, where he spends his days reporting on the latest developments in the technology and gaming industries and testing the newest PC components.