Microsoft Shifts Xbox Gaming Handheld Ambitions to Third-Party Windows Handhelds, Postpones 2027 Launch Plans

[Cpt.Jank]

We've reported on Microsoft's development of a custom Xbox gaming handheld a number of times, with Microsoft Gaming head, Phil Spencer, recently confirming a foray into hardware was in the works. Now, though, it seems as though Microsoft has shelved the idea for the meantime, instead putting its weight behind developing and optimizing Windows for third-party gaming handhelds, like the ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go. According to Windows Central, Microsoft is still planning on developing its own Xbox gaming handheld, but that product will no longer launch alongside the Xbox Series X|S as previously planned.

According to the report, a recent internal announcement at Microsoft indicated that Microsoft will be shifting its development teams to focus on its partner devices. One such device is the rumored Xbox-branded ASUS ROG Ally handheld, which is supposedly targeting a late 2025 launch. It seems as though Microsoft's renewed efforts would have it optimizing both the Windows base layer and the Xbox software components that are to be used on current and future gaming handheld hardware. It's almost certain that Microsoft has an uphill battle, now that Valve has officially released SteamOS for third-party gaming handhelds, and there is speculation that the sizeable performance and efficiency gap between Windows and SteamOS may be to blame for Microsoft's sudden shift in strategy. Now, it seems as though Microsoft's Xbox Series X|S successor is still planned to launch in 2027, but the Xbox handheld will likely launch after that.


View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Chaitanya]

Why not just concentrate on making a decent OS and leave the hardware to all current handhelds makers.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

"a week late and a dollar short" is what I would have named this handheld console.

Either be there at the start line when the form factor is taking off/having a resurgence or offer a better product than the competition to make it a more compelling buy if you are late to the party.

 

[Baru68]

uggghhhhh whaahhhtt? "Will no longer launch alongside the Xbox Series X | S as planned"....them bad boys launched in 2020. Idk what launch alongside you're meaning besides that one. This is definitely going to be a flop. Microsoft is going to work harder to develop for current hardware companies...then release theirs. Sounds dumb AF to me. Thanks for the info!

 

[Hyderz]

Microsoft will bring back Games for windows - live..... oh no the horrors just joking...
handhelds are on the rise... i remember there was a time when smartphones getting more powerful and they say handhelds are pretty much dead... well it looks like it is well and kicking

 

[Caring1]

I scrolled past this and thought the headline said Microsoft Shitbox

 

[Vayra86]

Why not just concentrate on making a decent OS and leave the hardware to all current handhelds makers.

Microsoft never learns that its a software company. Not a service provider and DEFINITELY NOT a hardware company. Everything they have tried beyond their OS is a complete and utter shitshow. Surface, Phone... and even XBOX is now pretty much in the shitter. Game Pass wont last either - it has no unique selling points beyond the first party games.

Azure's head is next on the chopping block; the EU is going to disconnect as soon as it can. Things are moving fast. And with the recent developments in their OS... I doubt thats a place you want to be in the next few years. 11 is completely pointless and destroys more than it improves.

After Intel we might be witnessing the next US giant that might topple over. Slowly.

"a week late and a dollar short" is what I would have named this handheld console.

Either be there at the start line when the form factor is taking off/having a resurgence or offer a better product than the competition to make it a more compelling buy if you are late to the party.

Yeah but better how, when the software running on it simply takes more, very scarce, resources out of any machine it runs on.

This is a dead end for them.

 

[Cheeseball]

A little off-topic, but Dave2D should re-do that Legion Go S Z2 Go battery test with the official SteamOS distro. You can run the Z2 Go at sub 8W TDP now and the CPU management is better, so with a 55 Wh battery it should beat the Steam Deck OLED or maybe slightly lose to it due to the bigger LCD screen (backlight is on for the entire screen) and native 1080p resolution.

 

[Evrsr]

It is OK, Microsoft should just support SteamOS / Linux natively and everyone will be better off!

Everything is an Xbox, remember?

 

[Neo_Morpheus]

I really enjoyed my 360, OneX and Series X but moved to SteamOS (first ChimeraOS now full on SteamOS).

I have zero reason to use a handheld or console from them anymore.

Unless they revert back to Sony and Nintendo level of BS with exclusives, at which case, I have zero issues in "missing" those games, as I'm currently doing.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

It’s a curious thing how people will bash consoles with limited specs, saying they are “holding back the industry,” yet this modest set of system requirements has helped pave the way for legitimate handheld PC gaming. And when you pick up old titles, it’s not the hardware specs that are the issue, but poor controller support. The wide adoption of consoles has ensured wide adoption of standardized controller configurations, which has really helped make the PC handheld market possible. I guess my point is consoles are not always the enemy, for all the grief they seem to get in PC forums.

One example that comes to mind is Quake 4, which was released on PC and console. Somehow the PC version has no controller support. I can’t imagine any modern cross-platform games doing that these days.

 

[dir_d]

Microsoft never learns that its a software company. Not a service provider and DEFINITELY NOT a hardware company. Everything they have tried beyond their OS is a complete and utter shitshow. Surface, Phone... and even XBOX is now pretty much in the shitter. Game Pass wont last either - it has no unique selling points beyond the first party games.

Azure's head is next on the chopping block; the EU is going to disconnect as soon as it can. Things are moving fast. And with the recent developments in their OS... I doubt thats a place you want to be in the next few years. 11 is completely pointless and destroys more than it improves.

After Intel we might be witnessing the next US giant that might topple over. Slowly.


Yeah but better how, when the software running on it simply takes more, very scarce, resources out of any machine it runs on.

This is a dead end for them.

Zune, and windows phone were awesome. I blame marketing, other than those two examples, you are correct, Microsoft has failed at everything else.

 

[Hyderz]

It’s a curious thing how people will bash consoles with limited specs, saying they are “holding back the industry,” yet this modest set of system requirements has helped pave the way for legitimate handheld PC gaming. And when you pick up old titles, it’s not the hardware specs that are the issue, but poor controller support. The wide adoption of consoles has ensured wide adoption of standardized controller configurations, which has really helped make the PC handheld market possible. I guess my point is consoles are not always the enemy, for all the grief they seem to get in PC forums.

i get what you mean but is it a right move for microsoft to enter the handheld market what already is a crowded market now?
I can name a few big brands that are doing and also not to mention there are quite a few brands that powers emulator handheld...
im not sure what products/hardware should microsoft release under xbox but i'd go back to release better games, new games ip would have a better chance to drive xbox sales.
Instead of thinking oh how to make money through traditional method.. new games, monthly sub
how about give players an incentive to play a game? for example in japan certain games colab with food companies
earning them rare skins and also coupons they can exchange for food or drinks
It be far better than just releasing a handheld (decent) its gonna sell okay (terrible) its gonna be e-waste..

 

[Mindweaver]

M$ should make their own Linux distro for handhelds. They could call it LiveOS. I'm half being serious here.. lol They could even offer it as a WSL option. Only pride will stop them from doing it.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Zune, and windows phone were awesome. I blame marketing, other than those two examples, you are correct, Microsoft has failed at everything else.

Windows Phone was awesome, and MS did actually try to market it. They did some decent commercials back in the day, and they even paid for product placements in some sitcoms and movies. No, MS did its usual thing and ruined their momentum by being behind the curve on features and by making it hard to develop apps. Every new WM release required too much dev effort (basically a rewrite) to keep up. By then, Android and iPhone had started locking up users. Then came, Nadela, UWP and the dumpster fire known as W10M, and it was the end of MS’s fun consumer-facing devices. MS had their chance and they blew it massively. Lack of consumer trust was no doubt a factor, too. The best MS could do there was attack Google, but it fell on deaf ears.

M$ should make their own Linux distro for handhelds. They could call it LiveOS. I'm half being serious here.. lol They could even offer it as a WSL option. Only pride will stop them from doing it.

When I look at how MS changed W11 (especially the Gnome-like control panel), the more I wonder if MS is secretly developing this as an option. They are webifying most of their apps, and they are focused on services. Paid upgrades are thing of the past, so, eventually, Windows might not be worth the cost to develop. Maybe it’s crazy talk, but I could see it as one of their future roadmap options, where Windows is just a Linux distro with tiers of free/paid support from MS.

 

[Vayra86]

Zune, and windows phone were awesome. I blame marketing, other than those two examples, you are correct, Microsoft has failed at everything else.

The OS was cool! But the store didn't fly. Its the same story as you have today with the Windows Store. Its a nuisance, you don't want to be there, you don't want to dev for it either, because why the fck would you? Microsoft's track record sucks in that sense, even with Apple's restrictive gatekeeper strategy, they did get their store to fly and the phone provided with all the apps. For Windows Phone, everything kept coming late, wasn't there, or didn't work as well.

Similar things occurred with Windows Store and 'UWP' apps, I think.

It comes down to the simple fact of Microsoft company culture. They're not cool, they're not agile, and they are old boys wearing new clothes. Pat Gelsinger's old socks scent comes to mind. Enterprise-facing software, that'll work fine, because you can get away with tons of shitty updates the userbase really cant complain about, they just want to get their job done and deal with it. But really? Microsoft is even starting to damage its enterprise and cloud business now. Not a day goes by without some change in your workflow/positioning of buttons in for example teams. Everytime you wonder why the hell it even changes, or why it changes AGAIN, its like Microsoft is actively trying to screw up your life, utterly aimless, change for the sake of change or just people keeping busy. I don't know. But when I close Teams after having clicked through THREE or FOUR popups telling me what's new today and how I can have Microsoft explain it to me... I open Edge and there is a massive Copilot bar bang on top-center of my address bar. Its bigger than the adress bar, too, taking valuable space with rounded corners and some more white space around it to emphasize its presence.

Its those little things that get under my skin and make me want to kill everything coming out of Redmond sooner rather than later, honestly. They just don't get it. And they never will. And that's just the UX and UI experience - it doesn't even consider the constant push to pull advanced user features out of your hands and control, which is again, a move I don't understand, its completely counter intuitive given the user base's desires.

And then you consider the actual price per license for their cloud experience: its high. Astronomical, even. Lots of companies are scratching their heads right now as the bills go up - and Microsoft shows it is not a neutral player in the geopolitical space either. We need to disconnect sooner rather than later tbh.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

The OS was cool! But the store didn't fly. Its the same story as you have today with the Windows Store. Its a nuisance, you don't want to be there, you don't want to dev for it either, because why the fck would you? Microsoft's track record sucks in that sense, even with Apple's restrictive gatekeeper strategy, they did get their store to fly and the phone provided with all the apps. For Windows Phone, everything kept coming late, wasn't there, or didn't work as well.

Similar things occurred with Windows Store and 'UWP' apps, I think.

It comes down to the simple fact of Microsoft company culture. They're not cool, they're not agile, and they are old boys wearing new clothes. Pat Gelsinger's old socks scent comes to mind. Enterprise-facing software, that'll work fine, because you can get away with tons of shitty updates the userbase really cant complain about, they just want to get their job done and deal with it. But really? Microsoft is even starting to damage its enterprise and cloud business now. Not a day goes by without some change in your workflow/positioning of buttons in for example teams. Everytime you wonder why the hell it even changes, or why it changes AGAIN, its like Microsoft is actively trying to screw up your life, utterly aimless, change for the sake of change or just people keeping busy. I don't know. But when I close Teams after having clicked through THREE or FOUR popups telling me what's new today and how I can have Microsoft explain it to me... I open Edge and there is a massive Copilot bar bang on top-center of my address bar. Its bigger than the adress bar, too, taking valuable space with rounded corners and some more white space around it to emphasize its presence.

Its those little things that get under my skin and make me want to kill everything coming out of Redmond sooner rather than later, honestly. They just don't get it. And they never will. And that's just the UX and UI experience - it doesn't even consider the constant push to pull advanced user features out of your hands and control, which is again, a move I don't understand, its completely counter intuitive given the user base's desires.

And then you consider the actual price per license for their cloud experience: its high. Astronomical, even. Lots of companies are scratching their heads right now as the bills go up - and Microsoft shows it is not a neutral player in the geopolitical space either. We need to disconnect sooner rather than later tbh.

All of this. MS is constantly changing things. The best way to describe it is "rearranging the deck chairs on a slowly sinking boat." New Outlook is a perfect example of the frustrating lack of focus MS has in everything it does. It forgets your preferences every few days, it takes a step forward but takes a few steps back. I don't use MS anything at home anymore. A decade ago, I had a Windows PC, a Surface, an Xbox, a Windows Phone, even a Band. In 10 years I went from all-in to all-out, and I don't see any signs of that changing any time soon.

 

[Veseleil]

I scrolled past this and thought the headline said Microsoft Shitbox

I thought it's just me.

 

[DaemonForce]

Why not just concentrate on making a decent OS and leave the hardware to all current handhelds makers.

Seeing the options already handed to us by Steam, linux communities and Microsoft...
We already know the answer to that one and they all end with Microsoft racing for the exit.
Anyone that has experienced Microsoft hardware can tell you that is NOT going to last long.

My Lumia 520 barely lasted a year before buttons failed. Lumia 640 went EOL after maybe two.
Held onto it for as long as possible, replacing it with an S20 5G after the previous Valentine's Day.
My Surface 3, the one that shipped with a quad core Atom and 4GB...Borderline unusable since ever.
It is effectively a half-assed window for Twitch chat as it's too weak to not error out playing streams.
Also it has become spicy pillow for the past few months. This thing is done done.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Seeing the options already handed to us by Steam, linux communities and Microsoft...
We already know the answer to that one and they all end with Microsoft racing for the exit.
Anyone that has experienced Microsoft hardware can tell you that is NOT going to last long.

My Lumia 520 barely lasted a year before buttons failed. Lumia 640 went EOL after maybe two.
Held onto it for as long as possible, replacing it with an S20 5G after the previous Valentine's Day.
My Surface 3, the one that shipped with a quad core Atom and 4GB...Borderline unusable since ever.
It is effectively a half-assed window for Twitch chat as it's too weak to not error out playing streams.
Also it has become spicy pillow for the past few months. This thing is done done.

I won’t argue with most of your assessment, but Nokia made the 520. Granted it was an entry level phone, so it lacked in many ways, but Nokia Lumias were generally very durable. The 1020 was a beast, and perhaps the smartphone I was the most fond of after all these years, largely because its camera was a game changer. When MS took over, build quality did seem to go down, though I liked the 950 as a device. Its problem was that it was doomed to the highly buggy W10M. My 950 would get white hot for no reason, which tanked the battery. I had to reboot the phone often just to keep it functional.