Microsoft has revealed early features of Project Helix, its next-gen Xbox, while confirming plans to send alpha versions of the hardware to developers in 2027.
At a 30-minute GDC 2026 keynote attended by IGN (check out our live report here to find out more on what was said), Jason Ronald, VP, Next Generation, Microsoft, reiterated that Project Helix will play Xbox console games and PC games. We then got confirmation of early features and targets, and the promise of "an order of magnitude improvement" on ray tracing performance.
"The entire design of the console is to usher in the next generation of console gaming by advancing the state of the art, and really breaking a lot of these barriers down," Ronald said. "Project Helix is designed to play your Xbox console and PC games, delivering high performance and providing the ultimate player-first experience. We're partnering closely with AMD to define the next generation of rendering and simulation. Project Helix is powered by a custom AMD-based SOC, and it's co-designed for the next generation of DirectX. Project Helix brings intelligence directly into the graphics and compute pipeline, delivering step-change functions and gains in efficiency, scale, and visual ambitions."
Project Helix features and targets:
Plays Your Xbox Console & PC Games
Powered By Custom AMD SOC
- Codesigned for Next Generation of DirectX
- Next Gen Raytracing Performance & capabilities
- GPU Directed Work Graph Execution
AMD FSR Next + Project Helix
- Built for Next Generation of Neural Rendering
- Next Generation ML Upscaling
- New ML Multiframe Generation
- Next Gen Ray Regeneration for RT and Path Tracing
Deep Texture Compression
- Neural Texture Compression
- DirectStorage + Zstd
Confirmation that alpha versions of Project Helix will be sent to developers in 2027 is interesting, as it suggests the console won’t be in consumer’s hands for some time yet. Perhaps we’ll get a proper reveal of the final version of the console at the end of this year, or maybe more likely, in the summer of 2027.
Microsoft's GDC keynote came just a few weeks after a significant shakeup at its gaming business, with former gaming boss Phil Spencer retiring, would-be successor Sarah Bond out, and Asha Sharma drafted in as new Xbox CEO.
Following the announcement of Sharma's appointment, Seamus Blackley, who co-created Xbox at Microsoft, said that because Xbox is not a core part of Microsoft’s all-encompassing AI push, it was potentially “being sunsetted.” Blackley added that the fact Sharma came over from Microsoft’s AI team with no gaming background was further evidence of the company’s strategy. “They don’t say that, but that’s what’s happening,” Blackley said. “I expect that the new CEO, Asha Sharma, her job is going to be as a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night."
But Microsoft boss Satya Nadella countered that concern by last week insisting that Microsoft is “long on gaming” and will always invest in it.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
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