Xbox has not been quiet about its plans to enter the hand held house these days. Whereas it hasn’t revealed concrete plans about what kind the hand held will take or when it would come out, Xbox head-honcho Phil Spencer has brazenly mentioned the concept, though on the time he indicated they had been nonetheless years away from launching it.
Nonetheless, a brand new report suggests an Xbox handheld machine is perhaps launching as early as this yr.
Jez Corden from Window’s Central has the pertinent info. He reveals that Xbox is working with a third-party to launch an Xbox branded handheld, with a launch date pencilled in for this yr.
“Codename ‘Keenan,’ this gaming handheld will look unmistakably ‘Xbox’ we’re informed, full with an official Xbox information button, and Xbox design sensibilities,” mentioned Jez.
He goes on to elucidate that the machine will possible be extra PC oriented, alongside the traces of a Steam Deck or Asus ROG Ally.
“On condition that it is a companion machine, just like Lenovo’s SteamOS partnership with Valve, I count on this handheld to be extra PC-oriented. It’ll most definitely run full Home windows, placing the Microsoft Retailer and PC Recreation Go entrance and heart, alongside the power to put in issues like Steam,” Jez says.
This ties in with earlier Home windows Central reporting by Samuel Tolbert, who wrote in December of 2024 that Microsoft was apparently contemplating third events to make Xbox branded gadgets.
“We’ve even heard that Microsoft is exploring choices round letting third-parties construct Xbox-branded gadgets, one thing that would prolong so far as letting them straight use the Xbox working system,” wrote Tolbert.
Naturally, the report by Jez appears to battle with what Phil Spencer mentioned, however in his reporting Jez feedback on this yr’s deliberate handheld as being a distinct machine to Xbox’x personal internally developed machine.
“For now, I perceive that Microsoft’s next-gen {hardware} plans embrace a premium successor to the highly effective Xbox Collection X, alongside its personal Xbox gaming handheld, and several other new controller choices,” mentioned Jez. “Tentatively, these new console gadgets are slated for 2027.”
Jez is, after all, additionally brazenly discussing Xbox’s plans for a brand new era console as effectively, one thing which the corporate has brazenly confirmed it’s already engaged on. Normally information that an organization is engaged on its subsequent console is barely value speaking about as a result of it’s a given – {hardware} developement is a near-continous factor, in any case – however with Xbox shifting over to third-party publishing on a number of platforms, there’s quite a lot of questions on what the way forward for Xbox goes to be. Jez’s reviews would possibly assist alleviate some fears that Xbox will abandon the {hardware} house solely.
