Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has confirmed that Xbox is planning an Xbox handheld console, but it’s a few years away from release.
The news comes from a new interview with Bloomberg. Spencer said that the company is currently working on prototypes and considering what it [a handheld console] might do.
Spencer said the “expectation [internally] is that we would do something” in that category of the handheld console market.
However, if you’re currently saving up the pennies in hopes of buying such a console soon, Spencer promptly squashed any false expectations and said that such a device is still a few years out.
Nonetheless, rumors of Xbox’s next-generation console and a handheld device have been circulating for some time. In March 2024, Windows Central’s Jez Corden claimed that Xbox was already prototyping an Xbox handheld. Other rumors also circulated that Xbox could be planning to release its next-generation console sooner than PlayStation.
On the Xbox Two podcast, Corden said, “I know that they’ve [Xbox] have got handheld prototypes right now”. Corden soon clarified that these are “new prototypes” and not the old prototypes often referred to.
Earlier this year, Xbox announced that its next-generation console would be “unique” and “powerful.” But apart from usual buzzwords, its currently not clear on what exactly that entails.
What do you think of Xbox working on its own handheld console? Let us know in the comments or our new community forum!
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Tom Henderson is Insider Gaming's Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief. When he's not running one of the industry's leading independent video game websites, he's probably playing an FPS like Call of Duty,…
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There’s no point in an Xbox handheld at this point? Handheld PC’s exist, they port their games to Switch, and Steam Deck. They’re not overtaking those competitors. They should spend their money and buy another publisher like Take Two Interactive especially now with Trump back in office.