A new report sheds more details on Microsoft’s plans for new Xbox hardware, including a new handheld device and console, and one of the biggest takeaways is the alleged price.
According to Fortune, the Project Helix console could cost between $1,200 and $1,800, unless Microsoft opts to subsidize the cost. The system could launch in 2028, the report said.
It’s not uncommon for platform-holders to eat some of the cost of a new console and make up the difference with software and services. When the Xbox Series X and S platforms launched in 2020, then-Xbox CEO Phil Spencer said Microsoft was losing as much as $200 on every console it sold.
Project Helix might be very expensive.
Part of what might be driving up the price for new consoles is the ongoing AI-fueled memory and component shortages. Microsoft itself is one of the biggest proponents of the build-out of all things AI, so its own efforts are contributing to an environment where the next Xbox could be incredibly expensive. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma reacted to this irony, saying it’s “wonderful” that GPUs have use beyong gaming.
Richer households already made up the majority of console-buyers today,
