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 type 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 have been nonetheless years away from launching it.
Nevertheless, a brand new report suggests an Xbox handheld gadget could be launching as early as this 12 months.
Jez Corden from Window’s Central has the pertinent data. He reveals that Xbox is working with a third-party to launch an Xbox branded handheld, with a launch date pencilled in for this 12 months.
“Codename ‘Keenan,’ this gaming handheld will look unmistakably ‘Xbox’ we’re advised, full with an official Xbox information button, and Xbox design sensibilities,” stated Jez.
He goes on to elucidate that the gadget will seemingly be extra PC oriented, alongside the strains of a Steam Deck or Asus ROG Ally.
“On condition that this can be a accomplice gadget, just like Lenovo’s SteamOS partnership with Valve, I anticipate this handheld to be extra PC-oriented. It’ll probably run full Home windows, placing the Microsoft Retailer and PC Recreation Move entrance and middle, alongside the flexibility 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 units.
“We’ve even heard that Microsoft is exploring choices round letting third-parties construct Xbox-branded units, one thing that might lengthen 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 stated, however in his reporting Jez feedback on this 12 months’s deliberate handheld as being a special gadget 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 Sequence X, alongside its personal Xbox gaming handheld, and several other new controller choices,” stated Jez. “Tentatively, these new console units are slated for 2027.”
Jez is, after all, additionally brazenly discussing Xbox’s plans for a brand new technology console as effectively, one thing which the corporate has brazenly confirmed it’s already engaged on. Often information that an organization is engaged on its subsequent console is barely price 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 a whole 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 fully.
