Microsoft's Next Xbox Console Reportedly Lands in 2028, With a Handheld Coming First
A new report lays out Microsoft's hardware roadmap through the decade's end, along with a console price that could run as high as $1,800 and a looming round of layoffs.
Microsoft is mapping out the next several years of Xbox hardware, and the picture that's emerging involves a lot more than a single new console. According to a new report from Fortune, Microsoft plans to release a next-generation Xbox handheld during the 2027 holiday season, followed by a full next-gen console — internally codenamed Project Helix — in time for the 2028 holidays.
That's a longer runway than some fans may have expected, and the pricing detail buried in the report is the kind of number that tends to stop people mid-scroll: Fortune reports Microsoft is currently projecting the Helix console could cost consumers between $1,200 and $1,800, unless the company decides to subsidize the hardware itself. For context, that's well above what any mainstream console has launched at, and it suggests Microsoft is wrestling with how to price next-generation chips and components without eating the loss itself.
A handheld first, then a console — maybe several
The report doesn't specify who would actually build the 2027 handheld. Microsoft already has a partner for this kind of device: Asus, which co-developed the Xbox Ally line running a modified version of Windows 11 with an Xbox-focused interface layered on top. Whether the next handheld follows that same model or comes from Microsoft directly isn't clear from the reporting.
What is clear is that Microsoft isn't thinking of "the next Xbox" as one box. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has described Project Helix as a "family of devices," language that implies multiple pieces of hardware sharing a platform rather than a single flagship console. That framing lines up with a deal Microsoft struck with AMD last year: a "strategic multi-year partnership" to build what the companies called "a portfolio of devices," including Microsoft's next-generation console. Put together, it looks increasingly like Xbox's hardware future is a lineup of devices — handheld, console, and possibly others — all running on AMD's upcoming chips rather than a one-and-done console refresh.
Xbox and Windows are fighting over the software again
Fortune's report also surfaces an internal tension that's familiar to anyone who's followed Xbox's history: Microsoft's Windows and Xbox teams have reportedly clashed over what software platform will actually power Helix. The two divisions have butted heads over this exact question multiple times across Xbox's 25-year run, so the friction itself isn't new. What's notable, per the report, is that Xbox appears to be winning this round, with the Xbox team now steering the direction of Helix's software rather than deferring to Windows.
Game Pass could get a lot more complicated
The report also adds detail to rumors that have been circulating for about a month about an overhaul of Xbox Game Pass. Earlier reporting suggested Microsoft was considering splitting Game Pass into tiers with and without ads, similar to how Netflix and other streamers structure their plans. Fortune reports that Xbox is specifically looking at building the subscription around add-ons: separate components for console-only games, cloud gaming, and multiplayer access, rather than one bundle that includes everything.
That would make Game Pass considerably more modular, letting subscribers theoretically pick and pay for only what they use. But it also raises questions the report doesn't answer: what happens to day-one access for new releases, and what the subscription ends up costing once it's broken into pieces, remain open.
This isn't Sharma's first swing at Game Pass pricing. Since taking over as Xbox CEO, one of her earliest moves was reversing a round of Game Pass price increases, after she reportedly told colleagues internally that "Game Pass has become too expensive for players." Under her direction, Xbox also pulled future Call of Duty titles from being available on Game Pass starting day one, and rolled subscription prices back down. The tiered, add-on structure described in the new report would be a more fundamental restructuring than a price rollback — it's a different model for how the service works, not just what it costs.
Layoffs are coming again
Alongside the hardware and software roadmap, Fortune reports that Sharma is planning another round of Xbox layoffs this month, with additional cuts expected in November and January. The report doesn't detail the scope or which teams would be affected.
Taken together, the picture is of an Xbox division making big, expensive bets on future hardware while simultaneously cutting staff and rethinking how it charges people for games today. None of this is official — Microsoft hasn't confirmed Project Helix, the 2027 handheld, or the Game Pass changes — and two years is a long time for pricing projections and release windows to shift. But if the broad shape of Fortune's reporting holds, Xbox's near-term identity is less about one console generation and more about a spread of devices, price tiers, and subscription options all launching in stages between now and 2028.
