Rumors have swirled a few handheld Xbox console for years, however none of them have ever fairly panned out. At this 12 months’s Xbox Recreation Showcase, Xbox chief Phil Spencer made his emotions on the matter clear. Requested concerning the idea in a latest interview, Spencer merely stated: “I believe we should always have a handheld.”
Whereas that statement–given in a dialogue with IGN–appears to talk for itself, Spencer shortly acknowledged that the interviewer may also have to talk to Sarah Bond, the president of Xbox, on the difficulty. He additionally expressed positive feelings about the way forward for Xbox {hardware}, calling it “fairly superior,” and that he is excited to speak about “totally different kind elements” in that {hardware}.
Spencer’s response falls wanting an official announcement of an Xbox handheld, however it could definitely appear to point that the corporate is headed in that route. Nevertheless, what kind it would take stays to be seen. In that very same interview, Spencer addressed the closure of a number of Microsoft-owned recreation studios earlier this 12 months, together with Tango Gameworks, calling it “a choice that may be very exhausting on these groups” and stating that he “has to run a sustainable enterprise inside the corporate.”
The success of the Steam Deck and comparable gadgets has triggered a renaissance in transportable gaming over the previous few years, which can have prompted Xbox to noticeably think about releasing a transportable console. Sony’s PlayStation Portal has additionally loved robust gross sales, and it is doable that Xbox would possibly differentiate its console by providing native play (moderately than remote-only). That stated, Xbox did announce new {hardware} on the showcase within the type of an all-digital Xbox Collection X, which is all-white and has no disk drive. A report from earlier this 12 months recommended that Microsoft was engaged on an Xbox handheld prototype, and it is apparently much like the Steam Deck.
For extra on the Xbox Video games Showcase, try our recap. The most important bulletins embrace the discharge date reveal of Name of Responsibility: Black Ops 6, the reveal of Doom: The Darkish Ages, and a brand new trailer for the renamed Dragon Age: The Veilguard.