Xbox handheld console will ‘bring the best of Xbox and Windows together’ with a new OS

MICROSOFT has revealed more about an upcoming handheld Xbox, stating that we’ll learn more this year.

In November last year, Xbox boss Phil Spencer confirmed that an Xbox handheld is in development, but that it’s still in the early stages.

He said that Xbox has made a few handheld prototypes but that several more years of development are needed before release.

Handheld is one of the most popular ways to game at the moment, proven by the immense popularity of the Nintendo Switch.

The other gaming giants, Sony and Valve, have also seen huge popularity with their portable consoles, the PlayStation Portal and the Steam Deck, respectively.

However, Xbox is the only one of the four biggest companies that has never released a portable console.

Speaking to The Verge, Microsoft’s VP of Next Generation Jason Ronald explained more about Xbox’s handheld strategy.

During a roundtable at tech exhibition CES called the Future of Gaming Handhelds, Ronald revealed the company’s focus is on bringing Xbox games to Windows.

There are already a large number of gaming handhelds that run on Windows, but not all of the games available on Xbox consoles run on Windows PCs.

After the show Ronald told the website: “We’ve been really innovating for a long time in the console space.

“As we partner across the industry it’s about bringing those innovations that we’ve incubated and developed in the console space and bringing them to PC and bringing them to the handheld gaming space.”

It was previously believed that Microsoft would be developing a handheld version of Xbox consoles, but instead it seems to be combining Xbox with handheld PCs.

Ronald explains: “I would say it’s bringing the best of Xbox and Windows together, because we have spent the last 20 years building a world-class operating system, but it’s really locked to the console.

“What we’re doing is we’re really focused on bringing those experiences for both players and developers to the broader Windows ecosystem.”

Gamers are currently unimpressed with Windows gaming handhelds preferring SteamOS on the Steam Deck.

Many games are optimised for mouse and keyboard, and still suffer from numerous performance issues.

This is because Windows OS isn’t created with gaming in mind as it serves multiple other functions.

Ronald claims that the Xbox handheld will run on a new OS that is “not the Windows desktop that you have today.”

He continues: “There’s just certain things in Windows that were not designed for if you don’t have a keyboard and mouse, like thumbstick support or joypads and stuff like that.

“There’s fundamental interaction models that we’re working on to make sure that regardless of the operating system details it feels very natively like a gaming-centric device and a gaming-centric experience.”

While Ronald gave very few concrete details about Xbox’s handheld device, he told fans that “we’ll have a lot more to share later this year.”

If you want to read more about Xbox, check out the games leaving Xbox Game Pass in January 2025.