Xbox Says Project Helix Will Be a “Family of Devices”

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has given the clearest on-record description yet of Project Helix, telling the BBC the next generation of Xbox hardware will arrive as “a great family of devices” rather than a single console.

It’s a notable shift in how Microsoft is talking about its next hardware push. Previous Project Helix reporting has leaned almost entirely on leaked documents; this is one of the first times a Microsoft executive has described the lineup’s shape directly, on camera, in an official interview.

What Sharma Actually Said

Beyond the “family of devices” framing, Sharma told the BBC that the new hardware will keep pushing performance further, and that it’s being built so players can run both console and PC games on the same machine. That PC-compatibility framing lines up with what Microsoft has been pursuing for several console generations, unifying its Windows and Xbox development environments rather than keeping them separate.

What This Doesn’t Confirm

Sharma didn’t name any devices, describe how many are coming, or say whether the lineup would follow the current Series X/S split between a premium and a budget console. She also didn’t address handheld hardware in any form — that idea has circulated in coverage of her comments, but it’s speculation from outlets reading into the “family” language, not something she said. The interview leaves open just as many configurations as it rules out. Some outlets have gone further than Sharma did: Forbes contributor Paul Tassi has floated his own guess at what the lineup might include — a premium hybrid console, a cheaper baseline model, a separate disc-drive option, a handheld, even a plug-and-play streaming box — but that’s his own reasoning about where the market is headed, not anything sourced to Microsoft. Nothing Sharma said points to any specific one of those configurations.

How This Fits the Leaked Reports

Earlier leaked documents reported by The Nerd Wire already pointed to Project Helix supporting PC games through a unified development environment, with Xbox 360 backward compatibility planned for a 2027–2028 rollout. Sharma’s comments are the first time that PC-compatibility direction has been confirmed by Microsoft itself rather than sourced from leaked material. Alpha hardware is expected to reach developers starting next year, though Microsoft hasn’t set a consumer release date.

An Affordability Problem Sharma Says the Industry Needs to Solve

Sharma also used the interview to talk about hardware costs more broadly, saying the industry needs to innovate on affordability and efficiency as component prices climb, and pointing to smartphone-style purchasing plans as one model worth considering for how consoles get sold. She stopped short of saying which of those approaches Xbox itself would adopt for Project Helix.

Source: Video Games Chronicle, Engadget, GamesRadar+, Forbes