Lots of people (not least Engadget’s personal ) have been asking Microsoft to make an Xbox-branded handheld for a very long time. And it regarded for some time like we may be getting within the not-so distant future. However Microsoft’s priorities have reportedly shifted to bettering the extensively criticised efficiency of Home windows 11 on current third-party PC gaming handhelds.
In an unique report, claims {that a} devoted Xbox handheld system, which may have launched in 2027 alongside the successor to the Xbox Sequence X, isn’t the corporate’s foremost space of focus proper now, even when it stays eager on the thought. An internally developed handheld, for which Home windows Central’s Jez Corden says he has seen various totally different codenames, isn’t at the moment being labored on, and he provides that no layoffs have taken place because of the strategic shift.
Whereas a local Xbox system may be a way off, the report makes clear that Microsoft continues to be very a lot lively within the handheld market. A 3rd-party console that it has been engaged on with ASUS, codenamed “Venture Kennan”, continues to be focusing on a 2025 launch. It is possible this system, which could possibly be outfitted with AMD’s Z2 Excessive chip, will ship with an improved Home windows 11 expertise higher suited to a controller interface.
The software program’s awkward integration in early iterations of PC handhelds just like the Lenovo Legion Go and ASUS ROG Ally has been a giant downside, and it’s partly why persons are so excited in regards to the expertise not being unique to the Steam Deck. The Lenovo Legion Go S began delivery with SteamOS working out of the field this week, the primary handheld not made by Valve to take action.
