We haven’t heard many details about Microsoft’s upcoming « Project Helix » gaming hardware since the company announced it in March as a device that will « play your Xbox and PC games. » In a new wide-ranging profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, though, Fortune alludes to a dual release strategy for upcoming Microsoft gaming hardware, with « a next-generation handheld device » planned by the end of next year and a 2028 holiday season console release that could cost between $1,200 and $1,800.
That future console price range is based on what has « internally been projected » at the company, according to Fortune. But the price for consumers could come down if « Microsoft decides to subsidize the cost, » the outlet says, as many console makers have done in the past.
While a $1,200 starting price would be historically high for the game console market, even accounting for inflation, it also reflects a new normal: The slowdown in Moore’s Law and AI-driven component shortages mean cutting-edge gaming hardware just isn’t as cheap as it used to be. This year, the Steam Machine broke the $1,000 starting price, while the 2-year-old technology in the PlayStation 5 Pro is now going for $900, and the 6-year-old Xbox Series X now starts at $750.
