Xbox handheld won’t necessarily be made by Microsoft claims new rumour
The future of Xbox might be a wider partnership with third party companies, as rumours circulate about Microsoft’s plans at CES.
One of the big questions hanging over the next console generation is Microsoft’s plans for Xbox, in light of the failure of the Xbox Series X/S.
Over this generation, we’ve seen the company deprioritise the console in favour of pushing its subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, on other devices. This has coincided with Microsoft’s pivot towards putting Xbox exclusive games on other consoles.
While this might suggest Microsoft is aiming beyond the console race, the company has already said it is working on a next gen system which will apparently see ‘the biggest technological leap ever in a generation’. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has also confirmed development on a handheld device, but this will be a ‘few years out’.
It’s unclear how these systems are connected – whether there is a next gen home console or if the portable is the only model – but ahead of CES 2025, a rumour has re-emerged to suggest future Xbox consoles might not be made by Microsoft itself.
According to a report on Windows Central, ‘Microsoft is exploring options around letting third parties build Xbox-branded devices’, which ‘could extend as far as letting them directly use the Xbox operating system’.
This rumour has circulated before but not necessarily in conjunction with a portable. It’s reappeared ahead of an event at CES 2025, on January 7,when Lenovo is holding a future of gaming handhelds event which will feature a couple of onstage special guests.
According to an email seen by The Verge, these guests include Steam Deck co-designer Pierre-Loup Griffais and Microsoft vice president of gaming devices and ecosystem Jason Ronald (here billed as as Microsoft’s ‘VP of next generation’).
While it’s unclear exactly what will be announced at the event, Valve’s presence could be tied to a leaked SteamOS handheld from Lenovo.
As for Microsoft’s involvement, Phil Spencer has previously said the company is looking to make the Xbox app function better on existing portable devices, so this could be related to improvements in running Windows, and by extension PC Game Pass, on devices like Lenovo Legion Go.
Of course, there’s a chance this could be related to an XboxOS handheld,but this is perhaps slightly premature considering Spencer was only talking about analysing the handheld market a month ago. As a future strategy for Xbox though, it certainly feels like a possibility.
It’s unclear when Microsoft might be intending to launch its next gen hardware, but dates from 2026 to 2028 have already been rumoured.
Microsoft execs purposefully chose to announce their next gen plans though, and heavily hint at a portable, so they’re keen for everyone to know they’re working on new hardware, even if they’ve so far not provided any other details.
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