Xbox handheld still happening claims report as next gen console details emerge

Several insiders have released new details on Microsoft’s plans for Xbox at large, including next gen console details and release dates for 2026.

Xbox should end up with its strongest games line-up in years in 2026, but there’s a lot of lingering questions around the brand’s future.

The biggest is what any future Xbox hardware will look like, and whether it will even try to compete with Sony’s PlayStation 6. Microsoft has already implied its next Xbox console will be an expensive PC hybrid, with the ROG Xbox Ally X – a PC handheld with an Xbox overlay – described as a tease of its next generation plans.

But now a new report has detailed some specifics around Microsoft’s next console, including how the Windows interface will work.

According to Windows Central, the interface for the next Xbox will ‘sit on top of Windows, disabling unnecessary processes to create a gaming-first environment’. Like a Steam Deck, you’ll be able to exit this interface and use Windows as normal if you want, allowing players to ‘run practically any program or accessory you can think of’.

The report claims the key ‘difference’ is the next Xbox will be able to run all your current Xbox games, along with games from Windows 11 and PC stores like Steam. In other words, it will have a more open ecosystem to accomodate various platforms, like a PC.

This next console is described as the ‘baseline’ Xbox, but it’s claimed Microsoft is working with other equipment manufacturers, like ASUS, to ‘build a variety of options for next gen Xbox gamers across a range of price points’ – although no other partners are mentioned by name.

It’s suggested this could include ‘more expensive, even more super premium Xbox ‘consoles’ from Microsoft’s Windows partners’, along with affordable options – so it sounds like there’ll be multiple SKUs, like the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X.

Notably, while past rumours implied Microsoft had abandoned plans for a first party handheld, this report claims the company still wants to launch one ‘eventually’. However, it’s said they are focused on the next gen Xbox console ‘for now’.

While recent comments from AMD’s CEO suggested Microsoft was eyeing up a 2027 launch for its next console, this has been described as a ‘best case scenario’ by Windows Central, with the focus being on improving the gaming experience on Windows 11, with no ‘specific hard cut-off point’ in terms of a release date.

Meanwhile, a separate report on The Verge claims Microsoft is ‘exploring ways to expand its Game Pass subscription line-up’ following its latest price hike. This includes potentially trying to bundle in additional third party services into Game Pass subscriptions, which it already does with EA Play and Ubisoft+ Classics on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

It’s unclear what other third party subscriptions it could realistically throw in (Netflix maybe?), but the same report claims Microsoft is also looking to merge Xbox Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass together. At the moment, these are £10.99 and £13.49 per month, respectively.

As for this year’s slate of games, it’s claimed Halo: Campaign Evolved is ‘tentatively targeting’ a summer launch. Fable, meanwhile is scheduled for autumn, while Gears Of War: E-Day is coming in the ‘second half of 2026’, likely before GTA 6 on November 19.

Outside of these titles, Double Fine’s Kiln game is expected to arrive in April, while ‘new content for Starfield’ from Bethesda is apparently set to ‘debut soon’. This might coincide with the long rumoured PlayStation 5 version.

If all of that pans out, combined with Forza Horizon 6 on May 19, it’s certainly a strong line-up to mark Xbox’s 25th anniversary. The big question beyond 2026 though, with rivals like Valve’s Steam Machine on the near horizon, is whether people will care about a new Xbox console if Microsoft continues to be a multiplatform publisher.

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