Still fresh off the news of Phil Spencer’s sudden “retirement,” Sarah Bond doing her best impression of the Annaliese Keating meme, and leaving Xbox, Microsoft has officially confirmed its new Xbox console, Project Helix.
If you needed an indication that Microsoft is ready to move on from the Xbox Series X and S consoles, arguably the best hardware Xbox has released, but not selling compared to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, even lagging behind its predecessor, the Xbox One, the announcement of Project Helix is that sign.
So, what do we know about this new console that Sarah Bond teased would be a premium offering? Let’s discuss.
Project Helix Will Play Both PC and Xbox Games
New Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma confirmed what we already knew: the next Xbox will play “Xbox and PC games.”
She also said it “will lead in performance,” and building on the previous statement, that the next Xbox will be “very premium, very high end.”
Since she was appointed to the position, Sharma has made it abundantly clear that Xbox remains committed to releasing hardware, despite the company shifting direction on game exclusivity on its consoles by putting its first-party titles on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch.
More will be discussed about the new console at the upcoming Game Developers Conference, according to Sharma, and there will also be a presentation titled “Building for the future with Xbox.”
We will share any pertinent news about Project Helix that drops.
When Can We Expect Project Helix To Drop & How Much Will It Be?
If we take AMD’s CEO and Windows Central’s Jez Corden’s word for it, Xbox is aiming for a 2027 release of Project Helix, which aligns with most console releases that typically have a seven-year lifespan.
PlayStation is also rumored to be gearing up to drop the PlayStation 6. Still, there are numerous reports that Sony could delay the release of its next console to 2028 or even 2029 due to the ongoing issues with RAM, causing chip shortages and outrageous spikes in computer hardware as AI data centers nobody asked for gobbles up components.
There is a possibility that Project Helix could suffer the same fate, but for now, it looks like Microsoft is committed to getting its new console into homes by next year.
It would also likely seem that Microsoft is looking to replicate the success it saw with the Xbox 360, which launched a year before the PS3, giving it a leg up on the competition at the time.
But, we still don’t know how much Project Helix will cost. If we learned anything from the disastrous PS3 launch, an expensive console could hurt your sales, and with it being described as a “premium” console, we can only assume it will cost more than the $650 Series X. We could be in the realm of $1000, like the recently released ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X.
Again, we shall see when we finally get all of that info. Until then, see what the video game streets are saying about Project Helix below.
