Microsoft’s Next Xbox Console Is for Real, and It’ll Play PC Games, Too

Microsoft has confirmed what many have speculated: that its next-generation gaming console will be a hybrid piece of hardware that can play Xbox games as well as Windows PC games.

There aren’t yet any details on a release window, pricing or specs, but the new head of Microsoft’s gaming division, Xbox CEO Asha Shar, wrote in a post on X on Thursday that Project Helix is the code name and that “Project Helix will lead in performance and play your Xbox and PC games.”

The move could upend the traditional console gaming market, where Microsoft and the Xbox are a prominent force, though in recent years it has lagged Sony with its PlayStation systems and Nintendo with its Switch and Switch 2. PC gaming has been gaining traction: A report last year noted that PC games at the time outsold console games (though this was before the launch of the Switch 2).

The Project Helix news also seems to align with Sony’s recent decision to stop releasing single-player, first-party games to PC. Sony cited lackluster sales for games it has released to PC, such as God of War Ragnarök and Ratchet and Clank: Rift in Time. As Penny Arcade writer and gaming pundit Jerry Holkins posted on X about Sony, “No reason to put their heavy hitters in some place where they run natively on your mortal enemy’s box.”

Microsoft has dabbled in mixing the Xbox and PC gaming worlds before, offering an Xbox Ultimate Game Pass that gives access to both Xbox and PC games for a subscription fee. It significantly raised the price on that service in October.

Last year, Microsoft also announced a deal with AMD that would secure processors for its future products, including, presumably, Project Helix.

With the timing of Project Helix unknown, it’s hard to say whether huge price spikes for storage and RAM may affect the price tag of a new Xbox console.