Xbox Project Helix will be a "family of devices," CEO confirms

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Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has, for seemingly the first time, called the next-gen Project Helix a "family of devices."

In an interview with BBC News , the console maker's boss spoke a little about the company's approach to its next generation of console - or consoles - known only by its codename, Project Helix.

"We've been hard at work on a great next generation and a great family of devices for Project Helix," Sharma says, perhaps soft-confirming that there won't simply be one Xbox machine you can buy when the next generation finally rolls around.

This current console generation offered folks the Xbox Series X, the more powerful and expensive sibling, and the Xbox Series S, a cheaper and less capable machine that can play the same games. There's no official word on what Project Helix's "family" will offer yet, but I could see Microsoft trying to repeat its dual-console approach or even dive deeper into handheld gaming.

"We will, of course, continue to push the boundaries of performance. We've talked about being able to not only play your console games, but also play your PC games on your console. I think, in addition, all of the industry needs to start to innovate on affordability and efficiency. That is something that we have not had to do," she adds. "But with the crisis that's currently happening in hardware and components, it is absolutely something all of us need to be thinking about and innovating on and giving people more choice in terms of how they play their console and how they purchase their console."

We don't know much about the Project Helix outside of the fact that it's increasingly sounding like a PC-hybrid machine that can play both your PC and Xbox console games - and the fact that it'll probably be very expensive to buy outright.

Elsewhere in the interview, Sharma did allude to the various different ways people can buy smartphones as a potential solution for the affordability of next-gen consoles, explaining that different business models could suit a wider audience.

And on the subject of The Elder Scrolls 6 potentially launching as an Xbox console exclusive, Sharma simply said "every platform needs some form of exclusive experiences."

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