Microsoft is reportedly aiming to launch its next-gen Xbox Collection X/S successor in 2027, with a much-rumoured handheld Xbox arriving later this 12 months.
That is in response to Home windows Central, which reviews an Xbox Collection X/S successor has been greenlit “all the best way as much as [Microsoft] CEO Satya Nadella” and is now “totally in manufacturing”. The publication would not have a lot to share in the best way of specifics, however it claims the brand new console is a “premium successor to the highly effective Xbox Collection X”, and is at present slated for a 2027 launch.
Microsoft has, in fact, already confirmed it is engaged on an Collection X/S successor, with Xbox president Sarah Bond final 12 months saying – amid fan fears the corporate could also be seeking to abandon the console market – it was “invested in [its] next-generation highway map” and “centered on… delivering the most important technical leap that you’ll have ever seen in a {hardware} technology.”
Whereas 2027 is clearly nonetheless some appreciable manner off, Home windows Central says Microsoft has different Xbox {hardware} plans resulting from attain fruition a lot sooner. The corporate is reportedly at present working alongside an unspecified “PC gaming OEM” to launch an Xbox-branded gaming handheld later this 12 months. It is claimed the gadget is being developed below the codename Keenan, and can – in response to Home windows Central’s sources – look “unmistakably ‘Xbox'”, sporting acquainted design sensibilities and even an Xbox information button.
The concept of an Xbox handheld is nothing new. Again in 2017, Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed Microsoft had “roughly designed an Xbox handheld” previously. Nevertheless, he is repeatedly returned to the topic during the last 12 months, fuelling hypothesis the undertaking had been revived. When questioned a few potential Xbox handheld final November, Spencer urged any such units would nonetheless be a couple of years away, however with Change 2 looming, and reviews suggesting Sony can be working by itself handheld gadget within the type of transportable PS5, it could be Microsoft felt the necessity to speed up its plans.
Apparently, Home windows Central claims Microsoft can be internally growing its personal Xbox gaming handheld, separate from this 12 months’s companion machine, which is because of launch alongside its Collection X/S successor and “a number of new controller choices” in 2027.
All this comes after a 2024 that noticed Microsoft’s continued dedication to the console market repeatedly questioned, notably following its resolution to convey choose first-party Xbox video games to different platforms. And whereas that multiplatform technique is accelerating in 2025, the corporate has been eager to reiterate its dedication to the Xbox {hardware} enterprise – final 12 months saying three new Xbox console variants alongside discuss of its next-gen plans.
