A new report sheds more details on Microsoft's plans for new Xbox hardware, including a new handheld device and console, and one of the biggest takeaways is the alleged price.
According to Fortune, the Project Helix console could cost between $1,200 and $1,800, unless Microsoft opts to subsidize the cost. The system could launch in 2028, the report said.
It's not uncommon for platform-holders to eat some of the cost of a new console and make up the difference with software and services. When the Xbox Series X and S platforms launched in 2020, then-Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said Microsoft was losing as much as $200 on every console it sold.
Part of what might be driving up the price for new consoles is the ongoing AI-fueled memory and component shortages. Microsoft itself is one of the biggest proponents of the build-out of all things AI, so its own efforts are contributing to an environment where the next Xbox could be incredibly expensive. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma reacted to this irony, saying it's "wonderful" that GPUs have use beyong gaming.
Richer households already made up the majority of console-buyers today, and that trend is expected to continue
Additionally, the report said Microsoft might release a "next-generation handheld device" for Xbox by the end of 2027, though there were no details on pricing or anything else.
Project Helix is the name for Microsoft's efforts for a "family of devices," so that would seemingly span both console and handheld.
The report added that Microsoft's Xbox and Windows teams reportedly battled over what software should run Project Helix, with the Windows team wanting the handheld to use a "trimmed-down" version of Windows Home. The Xbox team, meanwhile, reportedly pushed to build its own dedicated software.
An unnamed "senior Xbox executive" was said to have threatened to pull the plug on the entire handheld device rather than use Windows. Going forward, Xbox is "largely controlling the direction" of the handheld's OS, but Sharma told the site that the two teams work together. "We can't build Helix on our own," she said.
Sharma took over as Xbox CEO in February this year, immediately declaring that Xbox was in an unhealthy place and taking drastic measures that she believes may right the ship, including laying off staff, closing studios, and cancelling games. The layoffs, which have included about 2,000 people so far, are not done yet, as the Fortune story says more Xbox layoffs are coming this month, in November, and then again in January 2027.
Sharma also made major organizational changes, including handing Halo over to Activision for the future.