Microsoft sure seems to be thinking about some sort of portable Xbox
Enlarge / A demo of “Project Xcloud” streaming running on a mobile device, circa 2019. reader comments 117 Further ReadingAfter weeks of rumors, Microsoft says four games are going to “other consoles” Yesterday’s news that four unnamed Microsoft games are coming to “the other consoles” was a bit anticlimactic after weeks of now-refuted rumors about
Enlarge / A demo of “Project Xcloud” streaming running on a mobile device, circa 2019.
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Further Reading
After weeks of rumors, Microsoft says four games are going to “other consoles”
Yesterday’s news that four unnamed Microsoft games are coming to “the other consoles” was a bit anticlimactic after weeks of now-refuted rumors about games like Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle going to the PlayStation 5. Yet even as those rumors die, Microsoft seems to be actively feeding new rumors regarding plans for some sort of portable gaming device.
In an interview with the Verge accompanying yesterday’s “multi-platform” business announcement, Microsoft Xbox CEO Phil Spencer was asked directly about any handheld hardware plans, including his recent penchant for liking some social media posts discussing handheld game consoles. While Spencer said he had “nothing to announce,” he talked up a lot of other handheld gaming hardware when talking about how Xbox could capture more “player hours.”
So, okay, what keeps people from playing certain hours? Well there’s some sleep, school, and kind of normal life, but some of it is just access. Do I have access to the games that I want to play right now? Obviously we’re kind of learning from what Nintendo has done over the years with Switch, they’ve been fantastic with that. So when I look at Steam Deck and the ROG and my Legion Go, I’m a big fan of that space.
Spencer went on to say that “real work” still needs to be done to get Windows to work better with controller input and on smaller 7- to 8-inch screens. That’s the kind of OS work we’d note would be very useful if Microsoft is planning to release a Windows-based gaming portable of its own (we’re assuming Microsoft would not want to ditch Windows in favor of SteamOS). “That’s a real design point that our platform team is working with Windows to make sure that the experience is even better,” he said.
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Spencer gave even more direct hints along the same lines in an interview with Bloomberg, where he
UPDATE: Xbox boss Asha Sharma has confirmed that Microsoft has stopped development of Copilot on console. In a tweet, Sharma said Microsoft will retire features “that don’t align with where we’re headed.” Gaming Copilot, which was in beta, was designed as “your personal gaming sidekick with Xbox.” The idea was that players could ask for
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UPDATE: Xbox boss Asha Sharma has confirmed that Microsoft has stopped development of Copilot on console.
In a tweet, Sharma said Microsoft will retire features “that don’t align with where we’re headed.”
Gaming Copilot, which was in beta, was designed as “your personal gaming sidekick with Xbox.” The idea was that players could ask for help anytime or anywhere while they were playing a game. “With in-game assistance, get unstuck, pass roadblocks, and level-up your gameplay,” Microsoft said. “The guide you want, when you want it. Brainstorm strategies and get tips or insights with personalized coaching.”
It would also provide users with gaming recommendations. Gaming Copilot is currently available in the Xbox mobile app, and on Game Bar for Windows 11, and on the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds.
“Xbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers,” Sharma said. “Today, we promoted leaders who helped build Xbox, while also bringing in new voices to help push us forward. This balance is important as we get the business back on track. As part of this shift, you’ll see us begin to retire features that don’t align with where we’re headed. We will begin winding down Copilot on mobile and will stop development of Copilot on console.”
ORIGINAL STORY: Newly-installed Xbox boss Asha Sharma has announced a major reshuffle of the company’s platform technology teams, as Microsoft’s gaming division seeks to rebuild its position and release Project Helix, its next-generation console.
In an internal memo shared with Xbox staff today, seen by IGN, Sharma stated that leadership change was needed to “begin building the capacity we need” to evolve the Xbox brand and “how we work.”
As part of the changes, Sharma is bringing four former colleagues from Microsoft’s CoreAI division, where she previously served, over to Xbox. IGN understands that Xbox’s previous stance on AI remains unchanged.
The 100 Best Xbox Games of All Time
“Right now, it is too hard to ship impact quickly,” Sharma wrote, adding: “we spend too much time inward instead of with the community; and we lack the capability we need in some key areas.”
For Xbox fans, likely the most widely-known name among the list of today’s changes is that of Jason Ronald, the Microsoft veteran with more than 20 years of experience building Xbox. Ronald has now been elevated to a position where he is accountable for Project Helix and the Xbox platform.
Elsewhere on the company’s hardware team, Roanne Sones, a corporate vice president for Xbox devices and ecosystem, will take a long-planned leave of absence later this year and return as an Xbox advisor.
CoreAI vice president of product Jared Palmer, will join Xbox’s platform-level content push “investing in the systems that make it easy to build, submit and scale high-quality games,” with a focus on “developer tooling, taste and infrastructure.” Tim Allen, another key CoreAI staff member, will join Xbox to lead experience design, in a role that merges “product design, design engineering, research, and creative with a fan-first focus.”
Jonathan McKay will become Xbox’s head of growth. Evan Chaki will run a new engineering group focused on removing repetitive work and simplifying development. Both are also moving over from Microsoft’s CoreAI division.
Other changes will see David Schloss, a former colleague of Sharma’s at Instacart, lead the Xbox subscription and cloud business. Kevin Gammill, a 20-year Microsoft veteran who has worked on the Xbox user experience, will meanwhile leave the company.
Xbox Games Series Tier List
Xbox Games Series Tier List
While the quartet of additions to Xbox from CoreAI will likely raise eyebrows — as Sharma’s own move did earlier this year — the changes are believed to be positioned internally as simply about bringing in the best talent, with experience working in Microsoft’s AI division seen as just another part of the company.
The changes follow another bruising quarter for Microsoft’s gaming division. In the three months ending March 31, 2026, Microsoft’s Gaming revenue decreased 7%, Xbox content and services revenue decreased 5%, and Xbox hardware revenue (money made from the sale of Xbox consoles) declined 33%.
“While we have made progress expanding the business and our margins, player and revenue growth has not yet met our ambition,” Sharma wrote last week via a post on social media. “We know we have work to do to earn every player today and into the future.”
Last month brought a new mission statement from Sharma an
If you tend to save your passwords in your browser, you need to be more careful. A security researcher from Norway has uncovered a serious vulnerability in Microsoft Edge that shows passwords are stored in memory as plaintext, as shown in this social media post. Any malicious user with local access could easily intercept all
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If you tend to save your passwords in your browser, you need to be more careful. A security researcher from Norway has uncovered a serious vulnerability in Microsoft Edge that shows passwords are stored in memory as plaintext, as shown in this social media post.
Any malicious user with local access could easily intercept all your stored passwords… Read More
If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Home News Xbox “has work to do”, but is “recommitting” to core fans following hardware revenue drop of 33% year-on-year Player growth has “not yet met our ambition”. Image credit: Xbox News by Victoria Phillips
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If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.
Xbox “has work to do”, but is “recommitting” to core fans following hardware revenue drop of 33% year-on-year
Player growth has “not yet met our ambition”.
Image credit: Xbox
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byVictoria Phillips Kennedy
News Reporter
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Earlier today, Microsoft shared its earnings results Q3 FY2026, covering for the period between 1st January and 31st March. Microsoft’s revenue is up 18 percent, at $82.9bn, though gaming revenue fell seven percent. Xbox content and services also saw a drop of five percent year on year. Microsoft attributed this to “a prior year comparable that benefited from strong first-party performance”.
Meanwhile, Xbox hardware revenue dropped 33 percent. This follows a price rise for Xbox Series X/S consoles in the US towards the end of last year, the consoles’ second in six months. In November, Microsoft said this price increase was due to “changes in the macroeconomic environment”. Despite this, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company had “set new records for monthly Xbox active users in the quarter, as well as game streaming hours”.
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A little teaser for Xbox’s Project Helix.Watch on YouTube
Writing on social media platform X, Microsoft’s newly-appointed Xbox boss Asha Sharma said “while we have made progress expanding the business and our margins
IREN stayed Bernstein’s top AI-focused Bitcoin miner after a target cut to $100, as Microsoft-backed GPU expansion keeps its $3.7 billion cloud revenue target central to the stock story. The post IREN Doubles Down on AI Cloud Pivot as Bernstein Cuts Target but Keeps Top Pick Rating appeared first on Crypto News Australia…
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IREN stayed Bernstein’s top AI-focused Bitcoin miner after a target cut to $100, as Microsoft-backed GPU expansion keeps its $3.7 billion cloud revenue target central to the stock story.
The post IREN Doubles Down on AI Cloud Pivot as Bernstein Cuts Target but Keeps Top Pick Rating appeared first on Crypto News Australia… Read More
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