Those smoking Xbox Series X videos appear to be fakes

Early adopters always have to deal with launch issues that get ironed out over time, and while the Xbox Series X is not immune to such problems, there’s also a berth of misinformation related to the hardware. For instance, recent viral videos appear to show the new Microsoft ejecting vast amounts of smoke, which has led to some panic and worry.

Videos floating around right now seem to show vapors rising from the Xbox Series X’s vents when the console is placed vertically, like so:

It’s certainly a spectacle to behold, but as some others have found out, it’s also very easy to replicate with the use of a vape. Apparently, if you turn your console off and smoke directly into the vents, the vapor will come up and continue rising for a while afterwards, as you can see in the videos below:

Microsoft did not return a request for comment in time for press, but our colleague at The Verge, Tom Warren, says the company is investigating further. Elsewhere, there are people who swear that their Xbox is smokin’ up, but as of this writing there isn’t further video proof of such things happening.

Update (Nov. 12): A Microsoft spokesperson tells Polygon that the company has not witnessed smoke issues after extensive testing, stating: “We take all product safety reports seriously and our products meet or exceed industry standards. Findings from our initial investigations do not align with some of the claims being broadly reported, however we are in the process of investigating further.”

On social media, Microsoft had a little bit more fun with it all on Wednesday:

All this said, the mere idea of Xboxes going up in smoke is definitely sparking a number of good memes.