Both Engadget and Ars Technica, citing a Fortune profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, report that Microsoft's next-gen console, Project Helix, is internally projected to cost between $1,200 and $1,800 when it launches in the 2028 holiday season. A handheld device is expected a year earlier, for the 2027 holidays. The two outlets agree the consumer price could drop if Microsoft subsidizes the hardware, as console makers have often done.
The sources also agree the high figure reflects rising component costs driven by AI demand and the slowdown of Moore's Law. Ars Technica adds context: the Steam Machine already broke the $1,000 starting price, the PlayStation 5 Pro now sells for $900, and the Xbox Series X starts at $750. That makes a $1,200+ console less anomalous than it once would have been.
The reports differ in emphasis. Engadget frames the price as a potential roadblock to Sharma's goal of reaching 1 billion daily users, and notes further layoffs are expected this month, with more cuts planned for November and January. Ars Technica details an internal clash over whether the handheld should run a trimmed-down Windows or a bespoke Xbox OS, and mentions speculation about a possible sale or spinoff, with Microsoft executive Judson Althoff denying that idea.