What a six years it’s been for Xbox. The Xbox Sequence consoles’ lifespan has seen Microsoft’s gaming ambitions shot into the stratosphere by the $67.9 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. On the identical time, the Sequence X and Sequence S consoles — regardless of being arguably Xbox’s greatest {hardware} up to now — have offered poorly, falling behind even their unpopular predecessor Xbox One, by no means thoughts PlayStation 5 and the all-conquering Nintendo Swap.
The outcomes have been chaotic: a management change, mass layoffs, the closure and divestment of a number of studios. Console exclusivity for first-party was seemingly deserted, however is now (partially) again on the menu. Recreation Move is in flux, with a number of adjustments in bundling and pricing technique, and extra on the best way. Microsoft has lastly solved the drought of first-party video games that plagued it throughout the Xbox One period and the primary years of the Xbox Sequence — however, sarcastically, it appears to have nowhere helpful to place all these video games.
All that being the case, predictions of the demise of Xbox consoles aren’t laborious to return by. However Microsoft has already introduced the following era of Xbox console, codenamed Project Helix. What type will it take? Right here’s what we all know thus far.
What’s the newest information in regards to the subsequent Xbox, Challenge Helix?
A new report in Fortune, profiling Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, says that Microsoft’s projections set the price of the following Xbox between $1,200 and $1,800. It’s attainable, nevertheless, that the fee could possibly be introduced down if Microsoft decides to subsidize it.
The report additionally provides us the firmest indication but of a launch date, saying that the plan is to launch the brand new console in time for the 2028 vacation season. Extra surprisingly, maybe, it appears the dream of an in-house Xbox handheld has not died, and the gadget could possibly be coming before you would possibly assume. A “next-generation handheld gadget” is deliberate in time for vacation 2027. Read our full report.
What’s Challenge Helix’s launch date?
In line with reporting by Fortune, Microsoft plans to launch the following Xbox console by the 2028 vacation season. This seems to be a delay: in early 2026, reporting and feedback from chip provider AMD pegged the console for a late 2027 launch.
A 2027 launch would have been according to an industry-standard seven-year lifespan for the Xbox Sequence consoles, which launched in late 2020. However the delay is no surprise. Sony is reportedly pushing PlayStation 6’s debut back to 2028 and even 2029 because of the RAM disaster which is inflicting chip shortages and worth spikes for every kind of computing {hardware}, because the world’s provide of laptop reminiscence is snapped up by tech giants constructing out AI datacenters.
In March, 2026, Microsoft stated it could launch “alpha” Challenge Helix {hardware} to builders in 2027.
What is going to Challenge Helix’s worth be?
A Fortune report states that Microsoft initiatives the value of Challenge Helix to be astronomically excessive in comparison with any earlier console: between $1,200 and $1,800. The report notes it is attainable that Microsoft will select to subsidize the console to make it extra inexpensive.The worth displays each the present international scarcity in laptop reminiscence that’s making every kind of units dearer, in addition to Microsoft’s ambitions to create a high-performance console that can compete with gaming PCs.
Former Xbox government Sarah Bond stated the following Xbox could be a “very premium, very high end” gadget, which is evident code for “very costly.” Studies point out that it will likely be a Home windows-based gadget akin to a robust gaming PC. Microsoft not too long ago put a $1,000 price ticket on the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X handheld, so the next worth for the console is not that shocking.
It’s shocking how a lot greater it may be, although. Microsoft’s reported projection is significantly above an earlier estimate from gaming tech YouTuber Moore’s Law is Dead that put the seemingly worth vary between $1,000 and $1,200.
Will Challenge Helix be a PC?
Sure, just about. Microsoft has confirmed that Challenge Helix will play “your Xbox and PC video games.” Reporting from a number of sources in addition to public feedback made by Bond strongly counsel that the following Xbox is a Home windows-based gadget. Windows Central’s Corden reports that the Xbox Ally handheld is “primarily an early model of what the following Xbox goes to be like.” The Ally’s Xbox Full Display Expertise provides Home windows a console-like interface that can work with controllers and TV shows.
There are positives and negatives to this Home windows strategy. Positives: Challenge Helix, as hinted by Bond, shall be an open platform capable of run different shops and recreation launchers, like Steam and Battle.net, giving Xbox gamers entry to an unimaginably huge library of video games.
The draw back? Home windows will not be a chic or environment friendly platform for gaming, and based mostly on mixed results with the Xbox Ally, the Full Display Expertise in its present type wants quite a lot of work earlier than it’s as dependable and fast to make use of as different console interfaces.
Will Challenge Helix be backward-compatible?
Sure! Microsoft has already dedicated to this, regardless of the machine’s similarity to a PC.
At present, Home windows gaming units just like the Xbox Ally don’t play Xbox console video games. However, announcing Microsoft’s partnership with AMD on the new machine, Bond vowed “compatibility together with your current library of Xbox video games.”
It’s not clear how Microsoft’s engineers will obtain this, nevertheless it’s a should for the brand new console. From Xbox One onward, Xbox has spearheaded a backward-compatibility drive that pressured the hand of Sony and Nintendo, and set in stone gamers’ expectations that they’ll carry their recreation libraries ahead. There’s no going again now.
What video games will Challenge Helix have?
It’s too early to call next-gen Xbox titles with any certainty, significantly with the likelihood that the console shall be delayed previous 2027.
It’s price stating that its library shall be fairly not like any console’s earlier than it, although. Given its worth level, Challenge Helix could not have any unique video games, with Xbox Sequence X remaining energetic as an entry-level Xbox. However, it will likely be capable of run huge numbers of PC titles, previous and current. So long as they play effectively with a controller, it is best to be capable to load them.
When it comes to Microsoft-published titles which can be more likely to launch on Challenge Helix, The Elder Scrolls 6 is probably the most important. A full-blown new Halo recreation from the franchise’s new stewards, Activision, would make companion for a brand new console. Amongst third-party video games, Larian’s new Divinity appears a possible guess for next-gen. And maybe The Witcher 4 will find yourself as a next-gen, or cross-gen, title.
What is going to the following Xbox controller be like?
It appears unlikely that radical change is coming to the controller for the next-generation Xbox. The Xbox Sequence controller is itself a reasonably refined refinemenet of the design of the Xbox One pad, in spite of everything, and Microsoft’s pad design has change into the closest we have now to a typical throughout console and PC gaming.
Recent reports point out that Microsoft has a number of controller prototypes in growth, together with a third-generation Elite controller. These variously have options like haptic suggestions, adaptive triggers, a LED standing bar, and direct cloud connection. It looks as if Microsoft could also be searching for to meet up with the options of Sony’s extra superior PS5 DualSense controller.
What are Challenge Helix’s tech specs? How highly effective will it’s?
Nothing has been introduced in regards to the subsequent Xbox’s technical make-up but, past the truth that Microsoft will companion with AMD as soon as once more — similar to Sony. The 2 console makers have used comparable AMD architectures of their final two generations, making third-party builders’ lives a lot simpler.
Similar to PS6, Challenge Helix is reportedly based mostly on AMD’s forthcoming Zen 6 processor and RDNA 5 graphics unit. And similar to PS6, the goal efficiency is 4K decision at 120 frames per second (which isn’t to say that every one video games will hit this goal — removed from it).
Nevertheless, there are rumors that Microsoft is seeking to considerably outgun its rival on energy this time round. Moore’s Law is Dead says the ultimate silicon has a bigger die dimension than PS6’s, is extra just like a PC than a console design, and shall be each extra highly effective and dearer than the Sony gadget. These stories are according to bullish comments made by former Xbox boss Bond in 2024. She stated the Xbox workforce was focusing on “the biggest technical leap you’ll have ever seen in a {hardware} era.”
Extra energy than PS6 for the next worth: It’s a dangerous technique that hasn’t been tried within the console market for a very long time. Will it work?
What in regards to the next-gen Xbox handheld?
Plans for Xbox to make its personal handheld, which had been brazenly mentioned by former CEO Phil Spencer, had been thought to have been sidelined after Xbox’s partnership with Asus on the ROG Xbox Ally handheld gaming PCs. However Fortune’s reporting says {that a} handheld is deliberate for launch as early as vacation 2027, and has been the topic of tussles between the Home windows and Xbox groups over how its working system shall be constructed. For her half, Sharma has apparently used the phrase “household of units” when discussing Helix.
Apart from that, nothing is thought in regards to the handheld gadget. It appears protected to imagine that, not like the Xbox Ally, it run Xbox console video games. Will it additionally run PC video games, as Helix will? We’ll discover out, maybe before later.