The next Xbox is codenamed Project Helix, and it will 'play your Xbox and PC games'

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The recent retirement of longtime Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and resignation of presumed heir apparent Sarah Bond sparked serious questions about the future of the Xbox, mostly in the vein of, "Does it have one?" In a message posted today on X, new Microsoft Gaming chief Asha Sharma says it does—and it's going to play your PC games.

"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," Sharma wrote. "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!"

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… pic.twitter.com/Xx5rpVnAZIMarch 5, 2026

This isn't the first time we've heard of the new Xbox console: AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su said in February that "development of Microsoft's next-gen Xbox featuring an AMD semi-custom SoC is progressing well to support a launch in 2027."

This is, however, the first we've heard of the codename, and also the first time it's been directly implied that new unit will be more of a living room PC—akin to a Steam Machine, or maybe an Xbox Ally you can set your drink on—than a conventional, closed-system console. It also seemingly puts real distance between Microsoft's future gaming strategy and that of Sony, which despite the whole "printing money" thing is reportedly walking back its plans to release future PlayStation exclusives on PC.

Whatever the boys in the Xbox lab have cooking, it's clear that Sharma is pushing hard to establish herself as more than just "a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night," as original Xbox pioneer Seamus Blackley theorized shortly after Sharma took the Xbox CEO job.

I don't think initial doubts were unreasonable: Sharma only joined Microsoft in 2024, coming over from previous executive roles at Meta and Instacart, and was previously president of its CoreAI division. Promises that Microsoft doesn't intend to bury Xbox in AI slop, despite Microsoft's clear insistence on burying everything else in AI slop, remain a point of uncertainty, but at least it seems that Microsoft doesn't intend to bury the Xbox itself.

We may get a closer look at what's coming next for Xbox fairly soon: Sharma's first GDC begins next week, on March 9.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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