{"id":1821992,"date":"2026-03-12T08:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T05:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1821992"},"modified":"2026-03-12T08:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T05:57:12","slug":"project-helix-dev-kits-not-going-out-until-2027-and-other-new-details-on-xboxs-next-gen-console","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1821992","title":{"rendered":"Project Helix dev kits not going out until 2027, and other new details on Xbox&#8217;s next-gen console"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Project Helix dev kits not going out until 2027, and other new details on Xbox&#8217;s next-gen console<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">&#8220;The days of people defining themselves as (console\/PC\/mobile gamer) don&#8217;t really exist anymore.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/green-background-with-Project-Helix-logo-and-name-written-in-white-on-top.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"green background with Project Helix logo and name written in white on top\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"green-background-with-Project-Helix-logo-and-name-written-in-white-on-top.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Eurogamer\/Microsoft<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Victoria Phillips Kennedy avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1644925423.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Victoria Phillips Kennedy avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1644925423.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/victoria-kennedy\">Victoria Phillips Kennedy<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      News Reporter<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-03-12T08:57:12+00:00\">March 12, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/project-helix-dev-kits-not-going-out-until-2027-and-other-new-details-on-xboxs-next-gen-console?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          30 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Microsoft has shared more details on its next generation of Xbox console, codenamed Project Helix.<\/p>\n<p>During GDC this week, Microsoft&#8217;s VP of next generation Jason Ronald hosted a talk entitled &#8220;Building for the Future with Xbox&#8221;, where the exec affirmed what Microsoft&#8217;s newly-appointed gaming CEO Asha Sharma announced earlier this month &#8211; the next-gen Xbox will play Xbox console games and PC games.<\/p>\n<p><!-- code from Primis - Eurogamer.net - eurogamer.net --><\/p>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- code from Primis --><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Project Helix is designed to play your Xbox console and PC games, delivering high performance and providing the ultimate player-first experience,&#8221; Ronald said (thanks, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/microsofts-gdc-2026-keynote-live-report-building-for-the-future-with-xbox\">IGN<\/a>). &#8220;Project Helix is powered by a custom AMD-based SoC and it&#8217;s co-designed for the next generation of DirectX.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A slide during the presentation also provided an overview of some early Project Helix features, which you can check out below:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Powered by custom AMD SOC<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Codesigned for Next Generation of DirectX<\/li>\n<li>Next Gen Raytracing Performance &amp; capabilities<\/li>\n<li>GPU Directed Work Graph Execution<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>AMD FSR Next + Project Helix<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Built for Next Generation of Neural Rendering<\/li>\n<li>Next Generation ML Upscaling<\/li>\n<li>New ML Multiframe Generation<\/li>\n<li>Next Gen Ray Regeneration for RT and Path Tracing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Deep texture compression<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Neural Texture Compression<\/li>\n<li>Direct Storage + Zstd<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ronald stated Project Helix will be &#8220;an order of magnitude improvement&#8221; on ray tracing performance.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"slide from Microsoft's GDC session about the future of the next Xbox, Project Helix\" height=\"830\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/slide-from-Microsoft's-GDC-session-about-the-future-of-the-next-Xbox%2C-Project-Helix.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.9602409638554217\" width=\"1627\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"slide from Microsoft's GDC session about the future of the next Xbox, Project Helix\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"slide-from-Microsoft's-GDC-session-about-the-future-of-the-next-Xbox%2C-Project-Helix.jpg\" height=\"830\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.9602409638554217\" width=\"1627\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Microsoft<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Continuing with Xbox&#8217;s look ahead, Ronald said Microsoft is pivoting to &#8220;future of play&#8221; and player behaviors. &#8220;The days of people defining themselves as (console\/PC\/mobile gamer) don&#8217;t really exist anymore,&#8221; he stated, and Microsoft believes &#8220;PC is becoming an increasingly important part of the Xbox experience&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As for when developers may be able to get their hands on Project Helix for themselves, Ronald announced alpha versions of the console will begin shipping in 2027. You can read a summary of Ronald&#8217;s presentation <a href=\"https:\/\/news.xbox.com\/en-us\/2026\/03\/11\/project-helix-building-next-generation-of-xbox\/\">on the Xbox Wire blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Project Helix was first confirmed by Asha Sharma, who shared a brief but key update on her social media account. At this time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-boss-says-microsofts-next-gen-console-project-helix-can-play-both-your-xbox-and-pc-games-and-will-lead-in-performance\">she said Project Helix will &#8220;lead in performance&#8221;<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Project Helix logo and name written in white on a black background\" height=\"567\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Project-Helix-logo-and-name-written-in-white-on-a-black-background.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1008\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Project Helix logo and name written in white on a black background\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"Project-Helix-logo-and-name-written-in-white-on-a-black-background.jpg\" height=\"567\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1008\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Microsoft<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This was one of Sharma&#8217;s first high-profile acts as the new head of gaming at Microsoft. Sharma was announced to be taking over from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/personas\/phil-spencer\">Phil Spencer<\/a> following last month&#8217;s shock news that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/today-marks-an-exciting-new-chapter-xbox-boss-phil-spencer-retiring-amid-major-leadership-shakeup-that-sees-microsofts-coreai-president-taking-over-roll\">then-Xbox head would be retiring from Microsoft after nearly 40 years with the company<\/a>. Sarah Bond, who many had presumed would eventually succeed Spencer, also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/former-xbox-president-sarah-bond-bids-farewell-to-xbox-staff\">announced she would be leaving Xbox at this same time<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For more, be sure to check out our Chris&#8217; feature on everything happening with Sharma&#8217;s new role at Microsoft: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/future-of-xbox-vague-contradictory-phil-spencer-sarah-bond-asha-sharma-matt-booty\">The future of Xbox is vague and contradictory, with just a glimmer of hope<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Microsoft has shared more details on its next generation of Xbox console, codenamed Project Helix.<\/p>\n<p>During GDC this week, Microsoft&#8217;s VP of next generation Jason Ronald hosted a talk entitled &#8220;Building for the Future with Xbox&#8221;, where the exec affirmed what Microsoft&#8217;s newly-appointed gaming CEO Asha Sharma announced earlier this month &#8211; the next-gen Xbox will play Xbox console games and PC games.<\/p>\n<p><!-- code from Primis - Eurogamer.net - eurogamer.net --><\/p>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- code from Primis --><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Project Helix is designed to play your Xbox console and PC games, delivering high performance and providing the ultimate player-first experience,&#8221; Ronald said (thanks, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/microsofts-gdc-2026-keynote-live-report-building-for-the-future-with-xbox\">IGN<\/a>). &#8220;Project Helix is powered by a custom AMD-based SoC and it&#8217;s co-designed for the next generation of DirectX.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A slide during the presentation also provided an overview of some early Project Helix features, which you can check out below:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Powered by custom AMD SOC<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Codesigned for Next Generation of DirectX<\/li>\n<li>Next Gen Raytracing Performance &amp; capabilities<\/li>\n<li>GPU Directed Work Graph Execution<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>AMD FSR Next + Project Helix<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Built for Next Generation of Neural Rendering<\/li>\n<li>Next Generation ML Upscaling<\/li>\n<li>New ML Multiframe Generation<\/li>\n<li>Next Gen Ray Regeneration for RT and Path Tracing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Deep texture compression<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Neural Texture Compression<\/li>\n<li>Direct Storage + Zstd<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ronald stated Project Helix will be &#8220;an order of magnitude improvement&#8221; on ray tracing performance.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"slide from Microsoft's GDC session about the future of the next Xbox, Project Helix\" height=\"830\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/slide-from-Microsoft's-GDC-session-about-the-future-of-the-next-Xbox%2C-Project-Helix.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.9602409638554217\" width=\"1627\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"slide from Microsoft's GDC session about the future of the next Xbox, Project Helix\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"slide-from-Microsoft's-GDC-session-about-the-future-of-the-next-Xbox%2C-Project-Helix.jpg\" height=\"830\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.9602409638554217\" width=\"1627\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Microsoft<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Continuing with Xbox&#8217;s look ahead, Ronald said Microsoft is pivoting to &#8220;future of play&#8221; and player behaviors. &#8220;The days of people defining themselves as (console\/PC\/mobile gamer) don&#8217;t really exist anymore,&#8221; he stated, and Microsoft believes &#8220;PC is becoming an increasingly important part of the Xbox experience&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As for when developers may be able to get their hands on Project Helix for themselves, Ronald announced alpha versions of the console will begin shipping in 2027. You can read a summary of Ronald&#8217;s presentation <a href=\"https:\/\/news.xbox.com\/en-us\/2026\/03\/11\/project-helix-building-next-generation-of-xbox\/\">on the Xbox Wire blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Project Helix was first confirmed by Asha Sharma, who shared a brief but key update on her social media account. At this time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-boss-says-microsofts-next-gen-console-project-helix-can-play-both-your-xbox-and-pc-games-and-will-lead-in-performance\">she said Project Helix will &#8220;lead in performance&#8221;<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Project Helix logo and name written in white on a black background\" height=\"567\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Project-Helix-logo-and-name-written-in-white-on-a-black-background.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1008\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Project Helix logo and name written in white on a black background\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"Project-Helix-logo-and-name-written-in-white-on-a-black-background.jpg\" height=\"567\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1008\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Microsoft<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This was one of Sharma&#8217;s first high-profile acts as the new head of gaming at Microsoft. Sharma was announced to be taking over from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/personas\/phil-spencer\">Phil Spencer<\/a> following last month&#8217;s shock news that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/today-marks-an-exciting-new-chapter-xbox-boss-phil-spencer-retiring-amid-major-leadership-shakeup-that-sees-microsofts-coreai-president-taking-over-roll\">then-Xbox head would be retiring from Microsoft after nearly 40 years with the company<\/a>. Sarah Bond, who many had presumed would eventually succeed Spencer, also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/former-xbox-president-sarah-bond-bids-farewell-to-xbox-staff\">announced she would be leaving Xbox at this same time<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For more, be sure to check out our Chris&#8217; feature on everything happening with Sharma&#8217;s new role at Microsoft: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/future-of-xbox-vague-contradictory-phil-spencer-sarah-bond-asha-sharma-matt-booty\">The future of Xbox is vague and contradictory, with just a glimmer of hope<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Project Helix dev kits not going out until 2027, and other new details on Xbox&#8217;s next-gen console &#8220;The days of people defining themselves as (console\/PC\/mobile gamer) don&#8217;t really exist anymore.&#8221; Image credit: Eurogamer\/Microsoft News by Victoria Phillips Kennedy News Reporter Published on March 12, 2026 30 comments Microsoft has shared more details on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1821992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1821992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821992\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1821992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1821992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1821992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}