Microsoft’s previous Xbox leadership planned a first-party handheld gaming device, with the proposal reportedly costed and approved by CEO Satya Nadella, according to Windows Central journalist Jez Corden. However, the company’s current hardware strategy remains unclear following its leadership transition.
Speaking on the Xbox Two Podcast, Corden discussed reports suggesting that a new Xbox handheld could arrive before Project Helix, Microsoft’s next-generation console. He said his understanding of the previous plan was that the console would launch first, with a handheld potentially following later.
“The last I heard about it, and this was before the new regime, was that Helix was first and then handheld if it ever was going to come out was going to be later,” Corden said.
He then confirmed that a first-party handheld had been part of the previous leadership’s plans.
“And I do know that the old regime was planning a first-party handheld and that was the plan and that was the play that was costed up and approved by Satya and all that kind of stuff,” Corden said.
Corden cautioned that the strategy could have changed since the leadership transition, leaving open the possibility that the handheld’s timeline had shifted or the project had been cancelled.
He also suggested that recent reporting might refer to a different arrangement rather than the originally planned device. One possibility he raised was Asus producing a first-party handheld in partnership with Microsoft, potentially powered by a future AMD chip.
