Xbox plans to release a next-generation handheld by the 2027 holiday season and its next console by the holidays in 2028, Fortune reports. That console is Project Helix, and internal projections put its price at $1,200 to $1,800 (about Php 75,700 to 113,600), unless Microsoft decides to subsidize it. Higher hardware costs from memory chip shortages are already adding to Xbox’s troubles, the report notes.
Xbox says Helix runs on a custom AMD chip and is designed to play both Xbox console and PC games. At those prices, though? It had better. Microsoft plans to ship alpha versions of the hardware to developers beginning in 2027.
Helix’s engineering deadlines have moved up by at least several months, people familiar with the matter tell Fortune, so development teams are under pressure to move faster, AI included.
Xbox and Windows leaders have clashed over what software should run Helix. Windows leaders wanted the upcoming handheld to run a trimmed-down Windows Home, while Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s team wanted its own software, built for the best gaming performance. For comparison, Asus’s ROG Xbox Ally X20 handheld runs on Windows 11.
A senior Xbox executive even threatened to scrap the handheld project rather than use the Windows build, people briefed on the clash tell Fortune. Xbox now largely controls the direction of the operating system, though Sharma says the two teams still work closely: “We can’t build Helix on our own.”
Game Pass is due for a major overhaul, too. Players would pick features à la carte, with add-ons for console-only games, cloud gaming and multiplayer inside a tiered structure, people familiar with the strategy tell Fortune. Subscribers already know Modern Warfare 4 will skip Game Pass at launch.
We’d start a Helix piggy bank now, just in case Microsoft skips the subsidy. Or it may never materialize. It’s hard to tell these days.
