The first Xbox portable could launch later this year, as part of a Microsoft initiative to unify Windows and Xbox’s gaming offerings.
That’s according to The Verge, which claims that Microsoft is working on a handheld with manufacturer Asus called ‘Project Kennan’, which aims to offer “a universal library of Xbox and PC games”.
Asus’s Xbox-branded handheld could debut later this year, it’s claimed, but because any such launch is reliant on Microsoft’s platform work, timelines could change.
The platform work is reportedly codenamed ‘Project Bayside’, and aims to deliver “a common Xbox UI across multiple devices to help combine Windows and Xbox”.
The alleged plans follow comments from Microsoft’s VP of “Next Generation,” Jason Ronald, who said earlier this year that any future handheld device would combine “the best of Xbox and Windows.”
“I would say it’s bringing the best of Xbox and Windows together because we have spent the last 20 years building a world-class operating system, but it’s really locked to the console,” said Ronald.
“What we’re doing is we’re really focused on how do we bring those experiences for both players and developers to the broader Windows ecosystem.”
Ronald told The Verge that the goal of any potential Xbox handheld would be to create an experience that puts Xbox at the center of its focus, “not the Windows desktop that you have today.”
Microsoft has openly discussed its desire to launch an Xbox handheld. In March 2024, Microsoft Gaming CEO Spencer discussed what he’d like to see in a potential Xbox handheld.
During an interview following last summer’s Xbox Games Showcase, the executive returned to the subject, in which he dropped his biggest hint that a handheld could be in the works.
When it was told to Spencer that Xbox had been building its business around the strategy of being where the players are, be that on PC or, more recently, on other console platforms, he said: “So we should have a handheld? I think we should have a handheld too.”
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