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 could be getting within the not-so distant future. However Microsoft’s priorities have reportedly shifted to enhancing the extensively criticised efficiency of Home windows 11 on present third-party PC gaming handhelds.
In an unique report, claims {that a} devoted Xbox handheld system, which might have launched in 2027 alongside the successor to the Xbox Collection X, isn’t the corporate’s major space of focus proper now, even when it stays eager on the concept. An internally developed handheld, for which Home windows Central’s Jez Corden says he has seen a variety of completely different codenames, is just not at present being labored on, and he provides that no layoffs have taken place on account of the strategic shift.
Whereas a local Xbox gadget could be a way off, the report makes clear that Microsoft remains to be very a lot energetic within the handheld market. A 3rd-party console that it has been engaged on with ASUS, codenamed “Mission Kennan”, remains to be focusing on a 2025 launch. It is seemingly this gadget, which might be geared up 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 drawback, and it’s partly why individuals are so excited concerning the expertise now not being unique to the Steam Deck. The Lenovo Legion Go S began transport with SteamOS working out of the field this week, the primary handheld not made by Valve to take action.
