Microsoft's Xbox Future Could Include Handheld Gaming Console

Microsoft is reportedly working on two lines of Xbox products: a next-generation console that would succeed the current S and X systems, and a portable console not unlike Valve's Steam Deck, according to Windows Central.

The context of the piece is the publication analyzing an interview between Xbox head of consumer products John Friend with Licence Global magazine. In that interview, Friend discusses franchises including Diablo, Call of Duty and Halo and their importance to the Xbox brand. But Windows Central uses the interview as a jumping-off point to speculate on what Microsoft could have in store for the 25th anniversary of the Xbox, which would land November 15, 2026.

That might be a "poignant" time, the article suggests, to release the next iteration of the Xbox as well as a portable system that has been long-rumored to be in the pipeline, and which seems more likely given the runaway success of the Nintendo Switch and Windows-based gaming portables such as the Steam Deck, the Asus ROG Ally.

Rumors about a portable system are not new. In 2009, CNET wondered when Microsoft would release such a system. It has never happened.

But this year, there's been more speculation than ever that it could happen, especially after Xbox CEO Phil Spencer discussed the possibility on stage earlier this year at IGNLive in June. "I think we should have a handheld, too," Spencer said. "The future for us in hardware is pretty awesome." When pressed in that interview, Spencer said that in his view, a good handheld device would allow for local play rather than serving as a streaming device for games such as Sony's PlayStation Portal device.

Currently, Microsoft's main consoles are the lower-priced Xbox Series S and the more powerful Series X, but it also has a huge presence in PC gaming with its Xbox Game Pass service. A portable console from Microsoft could potentially play Xbox console games as well as Windows PC games if the company designed its software to accommodate both.

Microsoft's Xbox team did not respond to an inquiry about the portable-system reports in time for publication.

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