Microsoft is reportedly preparing to release its next-gen Xbox Series X/S successor in 2027, with its much-rumoured handheld Xbox arriving later this year.
That’s according to Windows Central, which claims a Xbox Series X/S successor has greenlit “all the way up to [Microsoft] CEO Satya Nadella” and is now “fully in production”. Windows Central doesn’t have much to share in the way of specifics but says – based on conversations with its sources – that it’ll be “next-gen hardware” and a “premium successor to the powerful Xbox Series X”, currently slated for a 2027 release.
That’s notably earlier than the 2028 release window Microsoft was previousy said to be targeting in court documents leaked in 2023 – information Xbox boss Phil Spencer later insisted was “old”, adding “so much has changed”.
Microsoft has, of course, already confirmed it’s working on an Series X/S successor, with Xbox president Sarah Bond last year saying – amid fan fears it may be looking to abandon the console market – the company was “invested in [its] next-generation road map” and “focused on… delivering the largest technical leap that you will have ever seen in a hardware generation.”
While 2027 is obviously still some considerable way off, Windows Central claims Microsoft has other hardware plans due to reach fruition much sooner. The company is reportedly currently working alongside an unspecified “PC gaming OEM” to launch an Xbox-branded gaming handheld later this year.
The device is reportedly being developed under the codename Keenan, and will – according to Windows Central’s sources – look “unmistakably ‘Xbox'”, sporting familiar design sensibilities and even an Xbox guide button.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer first confirmed Microsoft had “roughly designed an Xbox handheld” back in 2017, but he’s repeatedly returned to the subject over the last year, fuelling speculation the project may be back on. However, when the conversation returned to a potential Xbox handheld last November, Spencer suggested any such devices would still be a few years away.
But with Switch 2 looming, and reports suggesting Sony is also working on its own handheld device in the form of portable PS5, it might be Microsoft felt the need to accelerate its plans.
