Next-Gen Console Project Helix Will Receive a “Closer Look” Next Week

Microsoft announced that it will host its first Xbox Game Dev Update on May 7. The event will be hosted by Chris Charla and Jason Ronald, VP of Next Generation. It will also offer a “closer look” at Project Helix, along with what the console “represents for the future of Xbox.” However, the event is unlikely to feature a full reveal, as the hosts will instead cover details from the GDC event, where development kits for the console were revealed.

Last month, Microsoft revealed new details about Project Helix, at the Game Developers Conference 2026. The company stated that it plans to ship Alpha test kits of the consoles to developers in 2027. Additionally, according to a recent Xbox Wire post, Xbox vice president of next generation Jason Ronald wrote that Project Helix is designed to “play your Xbox console and PC games.” The console will also be “powered by a custom AMD [system on chip] and co-designed for the next generation of DirectX and FidelityFX Super Resolution,” and it “delivers an order of magnitude leap in ray tracing performance and capability.”

The article also revealed that Microsoft Gaming plans to bring Xbox Mode to Windows 11 in April, starting with select regions. An early version of the mode can be seen on the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. Xbox Mode lets players “seamlessly switch between productivity and play, with a familiar full-screen and controller-optimized Xbox experience while embracing the openness of Windows.” Finally, Ronald revealed that as part of Xbox’s 25th anniversary in 2026, Xbox will be “rolling out new ways to play some of the most iconic games from our past.” Additional details have yet to be revealed on what those new ways will be.