Microsoft reportedly projects $1,200 to $1,800 price for 2028 Project Helix

We haven’t heard many details about Microsoft’s upcoming “Project Helix” gaming hardware since the company announced it in March as a device that will “play your Xbox and PC games.” In a new wide-ranging profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, though, Fortune alludes to a dual release strategy for upcoming Microsoft gaming hardware, with “a next-generation handheld device” planned by the end of next year and a 2028 holiday season console release that could cost between $1,200 and $1,800.

That future console price range is based on what has “internally been projected” at the company But the price for consumers could come down if “Microsoft decides to subsidize the cost,” the outlet says, as many console makers have done in the past

While a $1,200 starting price would be historically high for the game console market, even accounting for inflation, it also reflects a new normal: The slowdown in Moore’s Law and AI-driven component shortages mean cutting-edge gaming hardware just isn’t as cheap as it used to be. This year, the Steam Machine broke the $1,000 starting price, while the 2-year-old technology in the PlayStation 5 Pro is now going for $900, and the 6-year-old Xbox Series X now starts at $750.

Internal clashes and sell-off rumors

Fortune also reports that Microsoft is beset by internal clashes over whether its upcoming Helix handheld will run a “trimmed-down version of Windows Home”—akin to last year’s ROG Xbox Ally—or a bespoke operating system built and controlled by the Xbox group. Fortune cites “people briefed on the clash” in reporting that one high-level executive threatened to cancel the handheld altogether if they were forced to use Windows.

That threat seemingly helped lead to the current situation with the Xbox team “now largely controlling the direction of the operating system for the project, Fortune writes, though Sharma said the two groups are still working closely together. Fortune also reports that Microsoft has pressured the hardware team to move up the timelines for Project Helix hardware “by at least several months,” in part by using AI tools where applicable.

The profile also cites “people familiar with the strategy” in reporting that Xbox Game Pass will soon shift to a heavily tiered “a la carte” structure that lets subscribers pick and choose “add-ons for console-only games, cloud gaming, and multiplayer.” That would be an interesting shift from the current Game Pass plans, which all include some level of cloud-based gaming, console exclusives, and console multiplayer even for players who don’t make use of them.

Elsewhere in the wide-ranging profile, Fortune addresses concerns from “several current and former staff members” that Sharma was put in place merely to enact painful cuts before an impending sale of a spinoff of the Xbox group. But the piece also quotes Microsoft executive Judson Althoff pushing back against that idea, saying, “We would not have put [Sharma] on a business we intend to sell. There’s going to be a ton of speculation about all this. Time will tell.”

Kyle OrlandSenior Gaming Editor
Kyle OrlandSenior Gaming Editor
Kyle Orland has been the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica since 2012, writing primarily about the business, tech, and culture behind video games. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He once wrote a whole book about Minesweeper.