Asha Sharma (CEO of Xbox) sent the industry into a frenzy with their post on X 3 days ago after they announced Project Helix – the next generation of Xbox “console”.
We’re going to use the term console loosely at this time until more information is revealed, but it looks like Microsoft are leaning head on into hardware at this point.
At one point many believed Microsoft might have been stepping away from Hardware and focusing on software with their play anywhere campaign, which allowed players to play games across many platforms. Along with changes to the Xbox Game Pass pricing, and increased perks, they even had me convinced.
That all changed on the 5th March when Asha Sharma posted on X:
So What Is Project Helix?
So far there is very little known to the public about project helix, only what Asha has mentioned in the post. Perhaps the most interesting part though is the ability to play your Xbox and Pc games. That isn’t announcing Play Anywhere, that’s not talking of streaming – both systems that are already in place, that’s actual PC games.
Now whether it will be a console with some ability to play some PC games, or whether it will be a console/PC hybrid will determine whether the industry gets a shake up or not, but considering Microsoft owns Xbox, perhaps they will be working towards some form of windows integration, will there be Steam integration? Could modding come to consoles?
Not much is clear right now, but this may well be what Xbox needs to compete with Playstation’s exclusives sales.
We’ll have to wait and see if the console wars heat back up again.