Microsoft plans to launch its next-generation console, codenamed Helix, in the 2028 holiday season for $1,200 to $1,800. A new Xbox handheld could arrive by the 2027 holiday season. These high prices reflect rising memory costs. Meanwhile, CEO Asha Sharma plans to overhaul the Game Pass subscription service for users.
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What we know so far: Memory shortages from the AI boom have cast doubt on the release timing and pricing of Sony's and Microsoft's next-generation consoles. While rumors had pointed to a possible 2027 launch, a new report pushes that back another year and supports estimates that both devices could break the $1,000 barrier.
According to Fortune, Microsoft is aiming to launch its next-generation console, codenamed Helix, in time for the 2028 holiday season. As memory costs climb, its price has internally been projected at anywhere between $1,200 and $1,800, unless the company subsidizes the hardware.
Another new Xbox, a handheld, could arrive by the 2027 holiday season. It would presumably support digital Xbox console games, unlike Asus' Xbox-branded ROG Xbox Ally, which is little more than a Windows handheld.
The details come from the outlet's extensive profile of Xbox's CEO, Asha Sharma, who replaced Phil Spencer earlier this year. Sources also told Fortune that Sharma plans to overhaul the Game Pass subscription service into an à la carte model, where users pick specific add-ons and online features.
The CEO has previously said she wants to make the service more affordable, and Microsoft has already partially reversed its disastrous price hikes.
Helix could cost more than double, and possibly more than triple, the Series X's $500 launch price from 2020, because AI data centers have absorbed most memory and storage manufacturing capacity, quintupling DRAM and NAND costs. Microsoft, a major player in the AI boom, has already raised the Series X's price several times.
Rival console maker Sony is in a similar position. The PlayStation 5 Pro now retails for $900, and trusted leakers say the PlayStation 6's bill of materials is approaching $1,000. Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki recently confirmed that the PS6's launch window remains undecided, but the company's decision to stop manufacturing physical discs for new games in January 2028 suggests the transition is planned for that year.
Microsoft previously confirmed that developers will receive Helix development kits next year. Features such as ray tracing, path tracing, neural rendering, machine learning, upscaling, denoising, neural texture compression, and multi-frame generation will play central roles.
Microsoft's Helix console and the PlayStation 6 are expected to use AMD's Zen 6 CPU and RDNA 5 GPU architectures. According to leaks, Sony's console will feature eight CPU cores and 40 to 48 GPU Compute Units, while Microsoft's will increase the CPU core count to 10 with 20 threads, though its CU count remains unclear. Helix, which will also support PC games, could have a 40% advantage over the PS6 in some aspects of rendering performance.
Fortune's report also shed light on the remaining Xbox layoffs expected this year and next. Sharma has cut nearly 1,900 people so far as part of a plan to reduce headcount by 3,200 over the next year, with further rounds planned for October, November, and January. Across the company, Microsoft has laid off roughly 35,000 workers since 2020.