Microsoft’s Project Helix Xbox Promises PC Game Support And Top Performance
Microsoft's new CEO of Gaming and head of Xbox, Asha Sharma, shared the first concrete details about the company's next-generation game console, essentially confirming reports that it will be a hybrid system of sorts, focusing on both console and PC gaming. She also teased a major performance uplift and, in the process, may have taken a shot at rival Sony and it's own next-generation PlayStation plans.
In a post on X, Sharma said she met with the Xbox team this morning to discuss Microsoft's plan to return the Xbox brand to its roots, which is fast becoming the new mantra in place of the 'This is an Xbox' campaign that hasn't really resonated with gamers. She also revealed the console's codename, Project Helix, and said it will "lead in performance."
Great start to the morning with Team Xbox, where we talked about our commitment to the return of Xbox including Project Helix, the code name for our next generation console.
— Asha (@asha_shar) March 5, 2026
Project Helix will lead in performance and play your Xbox and PC games. Looking forward to chatting about… pic.twitter.com/Xx5rpVnAZI
"Great start to the morning with Team Xbox, where we talked about our commitment to the return of Xbox including Project Helix, the code name for our next generation console.
Project Helix will lead in performance and play your Xbox and PC games. Looking forward to chatting about this more with partners and studios at my first GDC next week!," Sharma wrote.
Admittedly, it's not a lot of details, but they are certainly interesting ones. Just last week, Sharma stated on LinkedIn that Microsoft's "next console is well underway" but stopped short of sharing anything else related to hardware. Now, we get a codename, confirmation that it will play PC games in addition to console titles, and she set the expectation that will be more powerful than the presumed PlayStation 6.
To be clear, Sharma didn't actually reference the PS6 or Sony, but either Microsoft's next console will now have to "lead in performance" as promised when it comes out, or she'll need to walk back that statement.
This is not the first time that Microsoft has hyped its next-gen console. Back in October 2025, then-Xbox CEO Sarah Bond said it would be a "very premium, very high-end curated experience," and that part of the approach could be seen in what Microsoft had done with the ROG Xbox Ally X handheld collaboration with ASUS.
The comments came when there was speculation that there might not be another Xbox console, though Microsoft never actually said anything to substantiate the unofficial chatter. Just the opposite, it has consistently maintained that Xbox still has a future in home consoles, and Sharma has wasted little time in her new role doubling down on that being case.
On a related note, it's worth reiterating that AMD and Microsoft announced in June of last year a "strategic, multi-year partnership" that will see the former provide the latter with custom chips for for next-generation Xbox devices, including consoles (plural). Obviously that could include handles and whatever other adjacent products might be on tap, but we expect it to also be the case for Project Helix.
Beyond the specs and design, the other big questions marks are pricing and when next-gen consoles will release, and whether the AI-driven memory chip shortage will end up delaying whatever original plans were in place.
