Huh, it does seem that it's just encouraged. For whatever reason, I had it in my mind that it was required on Xbox for any games that were specifically upgraded for Series X|S.

Right. I'd buy the upgrade to Series X for $10 in a heartbeat. Not so much for $40. It would still be nice to get a free upgrade.

Right, that was their reason, but in the online store, it’s just showing up as a separate add-on, albeit one you can’t buy outside of the Ultimate "bundle."

On Xbox, it’s showing me it’s part of a bundle. I own all pieces of said bundle except the “Control - Xbox Series X” piece which is “Not Sold Separately”. It will happily let me buy the whole bundle for $40.

“The inserts are so good, I want to chew on them or glue them to my wall in alphabetical order.”

My 9 year old saw me browsing and immediately asked me to get him a pair. I'm going to be keeping an eye on these. 

Someone hire this man for the next Animal Crossing's fish puns!

Comcast/Xfinity is doing that too. They listed the modem as included in the monthly fee... but if you read the fine print, they'll give you a $10 "discount" if you provide your own. 

Comcast/Xfinity is doing that too. They listed the modem as included in the monthly fee... but if you read the fine…