The next-gen Xbox hardware won’t run native Game Development Kit (GDK) apps, and will instead only support the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), it is claimed.
Known insider SneakersSO (via NextGenPlayer on Twitter/X) took to the NeoGAF forums to comment on thoughts and questions of other members regarding Microsoft’s recent announcement of Project Helix, the next evolution in Xbox hardware. They remained confident that the upcoming console will not have any exclusives.
A fellow member noted that the announcement of Project Helix being a “boutique hardware” essentially confirmed Microsoft’s plans to not have any exclusives for the platform. The insider responded by saying that this is just where the fundamentals of Xbox as a business currently are for Microsoft. According to them, the only thing that is keeping it afloat is the Software & Services revenue. They added that exclusives would slash revenue in the short term, and the company would be hard pressed to convince consumers that it won’t change its mind down the road and “release the software on other platforms eventually.”
The insider noted that Xbox started releasing its first-party titles elsewhere because consumers were choosing other places to play despite those games being exclusive at the time. “All exclusives would do is cut off revenue short-term, and then Xbox will wind up going right back to releasing else where,” they said.
In response to a comment regarding the possibility of Microsoft affording to make some timed exclusives during the launch period of its next console, the insider reminded that this isn’t a next console and console generation. According to them, the upcoming hardware is basically a PC that uses the Windows Full Screen Experience (FSE) that is seen on the Rog Xbox Ally devices to emulate a console experience. They claimed that the ‘native’ Xbox GDK game apps that developers were building Xbox Series X|S titles for is going away. As per them, the next-gen hardware will have no Xbox Helix build target, and will instead only support the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) build. This essentially means that developers will just be shipping games for the Windows Store. Additionally, users will continue to have access to their Xbox library via backward compatibility emulation.
The insider likened Project Helix to a set-top box version of the Rog Xbox Ally devices, with the only difference being that it is being engineered by Microsoft itself. They further mentioned that the hardware will be pretty expensive, and is being made for a very niche audience. They cautioned fans to not consider it as a platform for the mass market target audience.
