Project Helix dev kits not going out until 2027, and other new details on Xbox's next-gen console

"The days of people defining themselves as (console/PC/mobile gamer) don't really exist anymore."

Microsoft has shared more details on its next generation of Xbox console, codenamed Project Helix.

During GDC this week, Microsoft's VP of next generation Jason Ronald hosted a talk entitled "Building for the Future with Xbox", where the exec affirmed what Microsoft's newly-appointed gaming CEO Asha Sharma announced earlier this month - the next-gen Xbox will play Xbox console games and PC games.

"Project Helix is designed to play your Xbox console and PC games, delivering high performance and providing the ultimate player-first experience," Ronald said (thanks, IGN). "Project Helix is powered by a custom AMD-based SoC and it's co-designed for the next generation of DirectX."

A slide during the presentation also provided an overview of some early Project Helix features, which you can check out below:

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
• Direct Storage + Zstd

Ronald stated Project Helix will be "an order of magnitude improvement" on ray tracing performance.

Image credit: Microsoft

Continuing with Xbox's look ahead, Ronald said Microsoft is pivoting to "future of play" and player behaviors. "The days of people defining themselves as (console/PC/mobile gamer) don't really exist anymore," he stated, and Microsoft believes "PC is becoming an increasingly important part of the Xbox experience".

As for when developers may be able to get their hands on Project Helix for themselves, Ronald announced alpha versions of the console will begin shipping in 2027. You can read a summary of Ronald's presentation on the Xbox Wire blog.

Project Helix was first confirmed by Asha Sharma, who shared a brief but key update on her social media account. At this time, she said Project Helix will "lead in performance".

Image credit: Microsoft

This was one of Sharma's first high-profile acts as the new head of gaming at Microsoft. Sharma was announced to be taking over from Phil Spencer following last month's shock news that the then-Xbox head would be retiring from Microsoft after nearly 40 years with the company. Sarah Bond, who many had presumed would eventually succeed Spencer, also announced she would be leaving Xbox at this same time.

For more, be sure to check out our Chris' feature on everything happening with Sharma's new role at Microsoft: The future of Xbox is vague and contradictory, with just a glimmer of hope.