"Longer term, I love us building devices, and I think our team could do some real innovative work." The Xbox handheld is real — but it's at least "several years out."

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The Xbox handheld is being prototyped at Microsoft right now, per a new interview with Xbox CEO Phil Spencer.

An Xbox gaming handheld has been built.
(Image credit: Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Xbox lead Phil Spencer just had a new interview with Bloomberg, discussing a range of topics.
  • Therein, they seemingly confirmed interest in building an Xbox handheld, something that has been rumored for quite some time.
  • Noting that any product was "years away," Spencer said the firm wants to analyse and research what's already out there before moving to full deployment.

Over the past few quarters, Microsoft has endured significant year-over-year drops for its Xbox console hardware, namely the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. As the generation wanes, manufactures like Xbox and PlayStation especially are noticing that users are more than happy to remain on the previous generation. Games like Fortnite and even the recent Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 continue to hit previous gen consoles and remain fully updated, making the concept of generations a little blurry. Perhaps this is the real "smartphonification" of the console industry, by which games and services drive the revenue rather than the hardware generations. Users aren't rushing out to replace their smartphones either at the same cadence they used to, in a similar sort of fashion. But that doesn't mean Xbox is done building hardware, by any means.

In a new interview with Bloomberg, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer recently discussed the firm's plans for one of the most exciting categories in modern gaming today — gaming handhelds.

Since the advent of the Nintendo Switch, firms have sat up and noticed that gaming architecture has been efficient enough to provide an experience at least approximate to high-end gaming consoles. The Z1 Extreme found in devices like the ASUS ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go is offering experiences on par with the PS4 and Xbox One in some cases, too. To that end, rumors have swirled that Xbox and PlayStation both are looking at bringing their console experiences to the handheld market, and we have some formal confirmation that Microsoft is now in the running.

RELATED: Phil Spencer confirms there's no "red lines" over what Xbox games will go multiplatform

In the interview, Spencer said that Microsoft was taking an analytical approach to handhelds for now, prototyping a variety of designs. "Longer term, I love us building devices. [...] And I think our team could do some real innovative work, but we want to be informed by learning and what’s happening now." Spencer also elaborated that any real-world product emerging from these explorations would be "several years out."

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It seems we'll be waiting a fair while to play our Xbox games natively in our hands

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Xbox has some serious momentum heading into 2025, with successful titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, sure-fire hits like STALKER 2, and big Xbox Game Pass partnerships with Genshin Impact offering a strong end to the year. Microsoft has also cut the price of the Xbox Series X by $50 for the holiday season, and will likely shift a ton of stock as people pick up goodies for Black Friday and Christmas.

Xbox's general trend of quarterly sales declines for its console hardware is unlikely to change until it releases new boxes, though. I doubt the new Xbox Series X "Digital Edition" is going to ignite a big sales rush. PlayStation has solidified itself as the default console to buy globally, as Xbox's pitch to consumers outside of its typical user base seemingly falling flat. Microsoft has begun exploring putting its Xbox games onto PlayStation in response, while also thinking about how devices like a handheld might help it reach new players. Microsoft's own mobile game store efforts have hit various hurdles, compounded by the fact Apple and Google simply don't want it to exist.

RELATED: Why an Xbox handheld is inevitable

It's a bit of a shame to hear the Xbox handheld, whatever it'll be called, won't be with us for "several years," but at least it's almost certainly on the way — I believe firmly that it'll be key to Xbox's future, too.

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Jez Corden
Jez Corden
Executive Editor

Jez Corden is the Executive Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow on Twitter (X) and Threads, and listen to his XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!

7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • GraniteStateColin
    Perhaps "several years" just aligns it with the next generation console? It would make sense to incorporate the portable architecture into the next gen platform.
    Reply
  • Jez Corden
    GraniteStateColin said:
    Perhaps "several years" just aligns it with the next generation console? It would make sense to incorporate the portable architecture into the next gen platform.
    i honestly woulda thought that it would be smarter to launch the handheld first rather than ask people to buy two lumps of new hardware. that could be $1000+ of spend if they launch them together, they'll cannibalize and compete with each other.
    Reply
  • fjtorres5591
    Spencer implied they want to wait to see how the current wave of portable PC game boxes plays out. Plus, it takes 4-5 years to get a new console out. So unless they started before the Steam Deck came out it is doubtful they'll get it out before '26.

    Also, there are hints the next xbox will be different enough that backwards compatibility is going to be tricky. (Hence Bond's comment about working on "forward compatibility".)

    There has been speculation about XBOX going to ARM for at least the portable but gaming on ARM windows laptops is both expensive and marginal. They need better x86 emulators.

    If they stick with x86 compatibility will be better but battery life will suffer. They may need to wait on newer tech like 1.8nm semiconductors and/or better batteries. Especially if they want to bring ML for more than simple upscaling to maintain compatibility with the next consoles.

    It's not as simple as doing a die shrink on the Lockhart chip whip has a max TDP of 100w vs 15w MAX TDP for the Steam Deck.
    Reply
  • Lurking_Lurker_Lurks
    Jez Corden said:
    i honestly woulda thought that it would be smarter to launch the handheld first rather than ask people to buy two lumps of new hardware. that could be $1000+ of spend if they launch them together, they'll cannibalize and compete with each other.
    I guess there'd also be development stuff to worry about there. Yeah we shouldn't expect generations to be prominent as in the past, but I don't imagine they'd want to unnecessarily confuse devs by releasing new hardware within a year or two running off a different architecture or baseline. Even on the consumer side a handheld right before the transition to the next hardware lineup (generation) would feel very strange. And then there'd be concerns about how long it could be developed for and how many games could hit it. I imagine that's already part of the concern as apparently this same interview said Xbox wants their users to access as many games across the Xbox ecosystem as possible, but in the grandscheme compared to its total library not that many Steam Deck games are Steam Deck verified. They could still separate their launches and give a handheld a couple years into next gen. That'd also be interesting as they could maybe compromise on power a little less. But I don't see a huge problem of launching them together. People will buy the console they want first and then the other down the line (probably on sale).

    But it's all just speculation. I think as is Xbox's Play Anywhere and PC/Cloud efforts really help devices like the Legion Go fill the gap and perhaps that's what they mean. There's a lot they've already learned from the PC Handhelds for windows gaming. Heck, really the PC Handhelds have forced Microsoft to make changes that they should've a long time ago for gaming on windows. As they let that market grow, see how developers and consumers interact with it, and better yet let it evolve (as in the tech powering it), they can build a better handheld.
    Reply
  • fjtorres5591
    Play Anywhere is undervalued and likely to be more important next gen. One license for XBOX, PC, CLOUD? What's not to like?
    Especially if the next xbox is PC compatible as it will minimize the back compatibility issues.
    Reply
  • GraniteStateColin
    Jez Corden said:
    i honestly woulda thought that it would be smarter to launch the handheld first rather than ask people to buy two lumps of new hardware. that could be $1000+ of spend if they launch them together, they'll cannibalize and compete with each other.
    Interesting. I think that makes sense on the purchasing (customer) side, but that would make the product development challenging. When we built our first portable game system, there were so many architectural considerations that naturally drive certain compromises, starting with a new, portable architecture in mind would be cleaner. Doesn't mean they couldn't do it the other way around, just that it seems to increase risk of a flawed launch.

    Also, to your point, I do think there will be natural cannibalization of Xbox sales by a handheld. Many who buy it probably won't ALSO buy the non-portable version. But that would also apply if they buy a portable that runs the current generation, they would be LESS LIKELY to then quickly buy the future next Gen Xbox, which could hurt next get game dev. If they wait to release on the next get platform, they can work with devs to take advantage of portable and next gen features to maximize success.

    If I were running the product dev on that, I'd rather deal with the negatives you raised (entirely valid ones) in order to get the advantages of better game support at launch, better design around any next-gen controller features, better concept integration with the living room version. E.g., maybe it's a portable CPU, but only runs at 960p on the handheld and uses external graphics in a docking station for 4K+ on the big screen TV, or customers who don't want to spring for the "Pro" docking station, can just connect the portable piece to the TV for cheaper 960p gameplay.
    Reply
  • fjtorres5591
    All those, but also: decent differentiation from the generic Portable gaming PCs.
    As much as Spencer may like the Lenovo line, he won't settle for a minor variation.

    My money is on a clamshell design.
    Reply