The next Xbox console could cost between $1,200 and $1,800, and a next-gen Xbox handheld could arrive a year before it. That’s according to a new Fortune profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma. It reports that Microsoft plans a next-generation handheld by the 2027 holiday season and its Project Helix console by the 2028 holidays. The price range comes from internal projections, not an announcement.
What Fortune reported
In its profile, published on 20th October, Fortune says Sharma “plans to release a next-generation handheld device by the 2027 holiday season and the next console by the holidays in 2028.”
On price, Fortune writes that the Helix console “has internally been projected to cost consumers between $1,200 and $1,800, unless Microsoft decides to subsidize the cost.” That’s a projection, not a price. Microsoft hasn’t announced a price, a release date or a UK price for either device. The Verge and Ars Technica have both reported on Fortune’s findings.
The Verge notes that the report doesn’t say whether Microsoft or a partner like Asus would make the handheld. Asus built the ROG Xbox Ally devices. The Verge also points out that Sharma has described Helix as a “family of devices”, so the next Xbox may not be a single box.
What Xbox has actually confirmed
Officially, Xbox has said much less. At GDC in March, Xbox confirmed Project Helix as its next-generation console. It’s powered by a custom AMD chip, designed to “play your Xbox console and PC games”, and Xbox plans to “ship alpha versions of the hardware to developers beginning in 2027”. There’s been no consumer launch date and no price.
Why the price is so high
Xbox has been open about the cost problem. In a June staff memo published on Xbox Wire, Sharma said the price Xbox pays for console storage components had more than doubled by February, then doubled again. Xbox expects that to reach “over 5x the prices we paid only two years earlier” by the 2027 holiday season, and memory costs have followed “a broadly similar trajectory”. The same memo says Xbox needs “a new business model and partnerships for hardware as we remain committed to Helix.”
Ars Technica adds context: the Steam Machine starts at more than $1,000 this year, the PS5 Pro is now $900 and the Xbox Series X starts at $750. Fortune quotes Ampere Analysis’ Piers Harding-Rolls, who calls rising hardware costs the biggest challenge facing the industry. It also cites analysts who say the console market is capped at roughly 200 million users per generation.
The Windows fight over the handheld
Fortune also reports a renewed turf war between the Xbox and Windows teams over what software the Helix hardware should run. According to the report, Windows leaders wanted the upcoming handheld to use “a trimmed-down version of Windows Home”. Sharma’s team wanted to build and control its own software for the best gaming performance.
Fortune says tensions ran high enough that “a senior Xbox executive threatened to scrap the handheld project rather than adopt the Windows build”, citing people briefed on the clash. Xbox now “largely” controls the direction of the operating system, though Sharma stressed the two teams still work closely together: “We can’t build Helix on our own.”
Fortune also reports that engineering deadlines for Helix have been moved up “by at least several months”, putting pressure on teams to work faster, including by using AI. Sharma told Fortune she won’t use “AI for AI’s sake”.
What it means
A $1,200 console would be a huge ask, and Fortune’s own reporting says the figure could come down if Microsoft subsidises it. Either way, the cheaper ways into Xbox matter more than ever: Xbox Play Anywhere, which Helix is designed around, and the new Cloud Playtime packs. We’ve also covered Fortune’s reporting on Game Pass going à la carte Sharma’s 1 billion daily players goal and more planned layoffs.
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