Alligator-Shaped Xbox Will Be Snapped Up by One Gamer

See you later, alligator? Maybe, if you’re the one gamer who wins Microsoft’s Xbox Series X-Bite, a playable Xbox console inside a realistic, 5-foot-long animatronic alligator, complete with the green Xbox logo shining out of its eyeballs.

Yes, it’s real, and there’s only one. To create the critter, Microsoft hired animatronics specialists from John Nolan Studio, which has designed other creatures for The Witcher, Jurassic World Dominion and HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series.

To the outside world, it looks like a real taxidermied alligator — except it has a custom Xbox Wireless Controller (complete with bite marks) in its jaws and an illuminated Xbox Series X inside.

There’s also a tie-in to the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6, which can be played on Microsoft Xbox. GTA 6, which comes out Nov. 19, is set in a fictional version of Florida, famed for its gators. However, because Sony, maker of the PlayStation, has an exclusive marketing partnership with Rockstar Games (the studio behind GTA 6), Microsoft can’t mention the game explicitly in its ads.

But Microsoft can certainly hint at the game. The promos for the giveaway say, “This November, Xbox is heading to Florida,” and feature GTA 6 props, including a baseball bat, duffel bag, playing cards, dominoes and a shot glass with a lipsticked rim. An alarm clock blinks the time 3:05, and Florida’s most famous area code is 305.

To enter, you need to follow @Xbox on TikTok, Instagram or X, repost the Xbox sweepstakes post from that platform and manually add #XbiteSweepstakes to your repost. Winners must be 18 or older and reside in the US. Your account must be public, and you’ll have to monitor it regularly. Once the winner is notified, they have 48 hours to claim the prize. The sweepstakes is open now and runs through 11:59 p.m. PT on Nov. 10.

CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.

See full bio