More proof of the dimensional merge.
Reports have come out that Microsoft is at work on a new Xbox lineup. And this, supposedly, consists of two different lines: the first, a successor to the current Xbox Series X|S, and the second being a handheld meant to rival the likes of the Steam Deck. Or, at least, as Windows Central lays it out.
For context, this goes back to WC’s analysis of an interview with Xbox’s John Friend. While the interview mostly goes over the importance of Xbox’s major IPs, WC takes a different tack, speculating on what the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Xbox brand (November 15th, 2026) may bring.
As Windows Central’s article suggests, that date may be prime time to announce the next generation of Xbox hardware. And, really, is a portable Xbox so unbelievable in an era where the Nintendo Switch led to a portable revolution over these past 7 years?
After all, speculation that Xbox might enter the handheld market are nothing new. CNET themselves speculated that such a move may happen way back in the log forgotten year of 2009. And yet, the portable computing boom may very well be the thing to prompt an Xbox handheld. Recent speculation has been hot, and even Phil Spencer teased the possibility of such a handheld at IGNLive June this year.
I think we should have a handheld, too. The future for us in hardware is pretty awesome.
Phil Spencer
When pressed on this, Spencer claimed that a good handheld device would offer local play, rather than being little more than a streaming device. Clearly a shot at Sony’s PlayStation Portal, a $200 streaming device that is tethered to WiFi.
While their current offerings have struggled, a portable device might just be the thing to drag Xbox out of the third place position they’ve been in since Don Mattrick shot them in the foot. The one concern is (for once reasonably) power; this portable would need to be able to run, at minimum, 9th gen games at reasonable fidelity, if not 10th gen games at the same. Allowing it to run games off the cloud when connected to the internet might alleviate the latter concern (even if by doing so it fails Phil Spencer’s requirements), but it still needs considerable power to manage the experience. It also may be able to run Windows PC games, assuming they design around such functionality. That said, they’ll really have to thread the needle to balance the price to power ratio of such a device.
Then again, nothing is set in stone, yet.
Source: CNET
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