New Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma, who took over as the head of the Xbox business last week as longtime Xbox boss Phil Spencer retired, has confirmed the codename for Xbox’s next-generation console – Project Helix – and also confirmed long-swirling rumors that the device will play Xbox and PC games.
“Great start to the morning with Team Xbox, where we talked about our commitment to the return of Xbox including Project Helix, the code name for our next generation console,” Sharma posted on her X account. “Project Helix will lead in performance and play your Xbox and PC games. Looking forward to chatting about this more with partners and studios at my first GDC next week!”
Rumors about the fifth-generation Xbox console and its ability to play PC games have been making the rounds for some time. Though perhaps it won’t be playing any first-party PlayStation games that make their way to PC, since Sony has reportedly pulled back on first-party PC support.
IGN’s Xbox podcast crew talked about their advice for Sharma on a recent episode, and our Next-Gen Console Watch crew offered her five changes she could immediately make that would win over Xbox fans.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our semi-retired interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
