XBox Project Helix suggests the 'console war' is over

Microsoft has confirmed that there will be a new Xbox, dismissing speculation that the console family launched in 2001 may have reached its end. But will the next device resemble the console as we know it?

All CEO Asha Shar has confirmed so far is that the console is in development under the name Project Helix and that it will play both PC games and XBox games. That's enough to generate interest and concern in equal measure.

Project Helix is set to put the DNA of a PC into a new kind of hybrid console. But what does that mean? Will it feel like a console, or will it be a pre-built gaming PC trapped in a console-like package?

On paper, it sounds like the device could add more confusion to Xbox's branding following the much-mocked “This is an Xbox” campaign. There's also the challenge that as a hybrid device, it's likely to have competition from Valve's Steam Machine, even it it offers more power and the ability to play XBox games (it's not clear if the PC aspect of Project Helix will be limited to Microsoft store games, or whether it will allow access titles on Steam, Epic and other platforms).

Rumours suggest a CPU comprising 3× Zen 6 high-performance cores + 8× Zen 6c efficiency cores and 12MB L3 cache, a GPU with 68 RDNA 5 Compute Units and ≥24MB L2 cache and a NPU for up to 110 TOPS (at 6W) or 46 TOPS (at 1.2W), powerful enough for local LLMs and advancedupscaling. RAM is rumoured to be up to 48GB. Internals will presumably come from AMD since Microsoft announced a deal with the company last year.

FilmoGaz claims Project Helix is expected to offer enough framerates up to 120fps at 4K and six times the rasterization performance of the Series X and twenty times the ray tracing performance.

Unsurprisingly, the news of Project Helix is proving to be divisive. “They’ve barely been able to sell their last 2 consoles. Now they expect people to fork out thousands for this? I don’t get it,” one person writes on X.

Microsoft has been shifting towards blending Xbox and PC gaming experiences with its Xbox Ultimate Game Pass, which provides access to Xbox and PC games for a subscription fee. Meanwhile, Xbox consoles already allow the use of a keyboard and mouse.

But some are predicting that Project Helix will basically be a PC that emulates console games. A regular leaker of Xbox news SneakersSO writes on NeoGAF forums: “This is basically a PC that uses the Windows Full Screen Experience (FSE) that we just saw in the Rog Ally X to emulate a console experience.

“The 'native' Xbox SKU, that had an updated build target that developers were building games for, that's going away... there’s no Xbox Helix build target, it’s just a UWP build. You're just shipping a game for the Windows Store. You still have access to your Xbox library thanks to BC emulation, but as far as having a 'native' Xbox console SKU you built your game towards, that's done.”

Xbox has already upset many fans by releasing previously exclusive titles for PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. An XBox that also plays PC games could cement the end of the era of exclusivity, which is the one factor many long-time fans think the new console needs to be a success.

Some are suggesting that Project Helix could be the reason Sony decided to stop releasing single-player, first-party games for PC. It blamed disappointing sales for games like God of War Ragnarök and Ratchet and Clank: Rift in Time, but it would make sense for it not to want major PS5 games to be playable on the next Xbox.

But if Microsoft is turning its console into a PC, the console war may be over.