Microsoft Reveals New Details on Next-Gen Xbox Project Helix - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 11 March 2026 / 5,613 Views
Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma last week unveiled the first details on the next-generation Xbox console, codenamed Project Helix. It is a PC console hybrid with the ability to play Xbox and PC games.
Xbox VP of next-generation Jason Ronald is holding a panel at GDC 2026 titled "Building for the Future with Xbox" and some more information on Project Helix has been shared.
The next-generation Xbox will be powered by a custom AMD SOC is codesigned for next-generation of DirectX, and it will support the next-generation of raytracing performance and capabilities.
The hybrid console will be using AMD FSR and is built for the next-generation of neural rendering, ML upscaling, ML multi frame generation, and ray regeneration for RT and path tracing. It will also have neural texture compression and DirectStorage.
"Project Helix is designed to play your Xbox console and PC games, delivering high performance and providing the ultimate player-first experience," said Ronald (via Tom Warren on social media). "Project Helix is powered by a custom AMD-based SoC and it's co-designed for the next generation of DirectX."
"We're sending alpha versions of Project Helix to developers starting in 2027," he added.
As far as PC players Ronald did state "PC is becoming an increasingly important part of Xbox. We’re bringing the best of Xbox to Windows itself."
"Xbox mode will be coming to Windows 11 in select markets starting in April." The Xbox mode first started shipping with last year's ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. The Xbox team has been working behind the scenes and it should feel the same between devices and the cloud.
Xbox plans to re-release a number of older Xbox titles as part of its Game Preservation program. These includes "iconic games" that will be playable in "entirely new ways."
"As one of the largest publishers in the industry, we feel a deep responsibility to preserve games from the past," said Ronald. He did tease "some of our most iconic first-party franchises are returning this year."
Read a summary of the GDC panel via Xbox Wire below:
- Our team is deep in development on our next generation Xbox console, Project Helix. We are pushing the boundaries of rendering and simulation in partnership with AMD, using FSR Next to power what comes next.
- Starting in April, Xbox mode will begin rolling out to Windows in select markets. It brings a familiar Xbox experience to players while keeping the flexibility and openness of Windows.
- For developers, the Xbox Play Anywhere catalog now spans more than 1,500 games, creating a powerful opportunity to reach players seamlessly across console and Windows.
The characters, worlds, and stories from developers from across the world have shaped every stage of Xbox’s evolution, what’s possible and where we go next. As we celebrate 25 years of Xbox this year, I want to give a special thank you to the developers, past and present, who have helped define Xbox’s legacy, including the more than 5,000 developers around the world currently building for Xbox.
We’re continuing to push innovation for our next 25 years with our team hard at work on our next-generation first-party console: Project Helix is designed to play your Xbox console and PC games, delivering leading performance and ushering in the next generation of console gaming.
As part of our multi-year partnership with AMD, we are shaping the future of rendering and simulation. Project Helix is powered by a custom AMD SoC and co-designed for the next generation of DirectX and FSR to unlock what comes next.
It delivers an order of magnitude leap in ray tracing performance and capability, integrates intelligence directly into the graphics and compute pipeline, and drives meaningful gains in efficiency, scale, and visual ambition. The result is more realistic, immersive, and dynamic worlds for players.
I’m excited to share we plan to ship alpha versions of the hardware to developers beginning in 2027.
And, we’re committed to keeping games from four generations of Xbox playable for years to come. As part of our 25th anniversary later this year, we’ll be rolling out new ways to play some of the most iconic games from our past.
As games increasingly span devices, we’re breaking down the barriers between console and PC games for more seamless cross-device play, and we’re making the Xbox experience consistent across screens. This also gives developers a simpler, more unified path to reach more players while helping reduce development costs.
We’re taking everything we’ve learned about building a leading gaming OS and bringing it directly into Windows for both players and developers. After debuting an early version with the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, today I’m excited to share that we are bringing the same innovation to Windows 11 with Xbox mode that begins rolling out in April, starting with select markets. Xbox mode lets players seamlessly switch between productivity and play, with a familiar full screen and controller optimized Xbox experience while embracing the openness of Windows.
Xbox has an incredible lineup of game releases this year, from the return of iconic first-party franchises like Halo and Gears of War, to major titles from our partners across the globe, alongside bold creativity from independent developers like Beethoven & Dinosaur’s Mixtape, or Crimson Desert from Pearl Abyss.
Players should be able to play these games and more across devices, whether through purchases, subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass, or from other leading storefronts. Xbox Play Anywhere allows your games to move with you seamlessly across screens. Your progress carries forward, the time you’ve invested stays with you, and you only need to buy a game once. The Xbox Play Anywhere game catalog has grown to over 1,500 games, and 500 development teams have already shipped games with Xbox Play Anywhere.
This is just the start of the next generation and the next 25 years of Xbox, and we can’t wait to share more later this year. As we listen, learn, and build in partnership with the industry and the community, we’d like to thank you for being part of the journey and making gaming so unique and enduring.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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Get the price right Microsoft and you will be back in the game
MLID said he they were aiming for $1000-1200, but I really hope he is wrong there. I know the specs are very high (equivalent to a PC that costs about $1700 right now in early 2026) on a console that will be releasing presumably Holiday 2027 (possibly 2028), but $1000-1200 is way too high for a console, it would have zero mass market appeal at such a price, so I really can't see why Microsoft would spend hundreds of millions of dollars on R&D for a system that has only the nichest of appeal.
Hopefully they can get the price down to like $800-900, I could see myself getting it for that price instead of just doing my own PC upgrade.
wishful thinking to get at a low price
It is not a console anyway. It is a windows 11 machine and it will be priced accordingly.
It's both, leaks said it has dual layer OS, one is a proper console OS with near full Xbox console back compat, console level game optimization when developers choose to put in that effort and release on the console Xbox store (Booty pretty much already confirmed their 1st party will be doing console level game optimization), the other Windows 11 so that it can access the PC storefronts like Steam and Epic and GOG, with AMD presumably planning to include the custom AMD SoC when they release their PC drivers, with seemless switching between the two (for instance hit the A button on a Steam icon on the console UI and the Windows OS opens up Steam in a window).
People can go through whatever mental gymnastics they like.
Xbox derangement syndrome will never not be weird.
The dual layer part is more for security than anything else as it needs to play OG Xbox games so they are not pirated like their PC counterpart so dual partition is needed. Outside of that, the device is a custom PC on the same level as the Steam machine and the only way that machine is going to be priced at console levels is that you would need to also get GP Ultimate for like 2 years or better. I believe there will be a GP U version and a non GPU version.
They should make it a monthly subscription tp pay it off over 2 years
MLID gets crap wrong constantly.
They renamed all the AI shit but it's full of AI shit
Not sure why companies look at ~40 years of historical business and walk the opposite direction.
Consoles are supposed to be "cheap" and accessible. PCs are more expensive but have broader utility.
You start weighing the scales differently, then the market doesn't understand what you're selling or why.
All i read is 1000 to even 1400 dollars...yea thats not going to force sony to push out a ps6.
Xbox as a hardware will decline a lot
Isn't it crazy how a new Xbox was announced and no one cares? Social media was going crazy when 8th gen consoles or even current gen were announced.
It's because it's just a PC with an Xbox compatibility layer.
That and it's Xbox. That brand doesn't seem to carry much weight anymore, other than to give people an easy target to beat up on lol.
I think you have it the wrong way around.
It's an Xbox with a Windows layer on top... Which would explain why the Windows portion gets less RAM as the Xbox OS still needs to run underneath.
It's an extension of the Xbox One OS software stack design philosophy really, but taken to a higher extreme.
But you can't install windows on consoles? Console = closed platform. If it's an open platform then it's primary a PC.
It's Microsofts world. They can do what they want.
So you're happy to let MS re-define what console means now?
Just go 3rd party already!! No one gonna miss your inferior consoles....
I just see these walls of text of PR speak and sigh.
The more they talk at the moment, the more exasperating the message feels.
I can't wait for game play showing off its power!
I have a feeling this will be the last gen of xbox . They are losing their identity.
This is going to cost a Goddamned fortune isn't it?
Given the direction of the industry, I felt like Xbox Series X is gonna be my last home console. But MS is saying everything I want to hear, especially as someone who was just gonna become a PC gamer.
When will Xbox die? Anyway a Hybrid console. Can't see next gen consoles coating less then $1k. So expect $900+
If the dev kits get shipped in 2027, we could expect a 2028 launch.
I’m curious which older Xbox games it is looking to re-release.
Probably content from studios they bought. Could be remakes, remasters and emulation. I suspect they will even bring OG Xbox and Xbox 360 emulation to Windows.
According ro rumors MS will enable exhaustive backwards compatible on it.
Give it a reasonable price and stop replacing employees with AI.
So some kind of PC/ Xbox hybrid? I'm game as long as under $1,000.00
