With new consoles imminent, the rumor mill has gone into overdrive. Microsoft is working on the next Xbox, codenamed “Project Helix.” Confirmed information on the device is scarce, but a leaker has come out with a new rumor that led to speculation Xbox had to step in and correct about whether or not it was even going to be a console manufactured by Microsoft.
A leaker by the name of KelperL2, who has been posting alleged tech updates on the upcoming PS6 and new Xbox, was speaking about Project Helix in a NeoGAF forum thread and claimed that Microsoft will be selling the Project Helix chip to manufacturers like ASUS and MSI, essentially letting you buy machines running on the Project Helix innards.
Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen, but when this rumor started spreading on social media like X, some speculated that this might mean Project Helix will not be a first-party console, and may instead be a third-party device similar to the ASUS Rog X Ally handheld. Jason Ronald, the vice president of Xbox’s gaming devices and ecosystem, responded, saying that Project Helix “will be available as a 1st party Xbox console.”
Project Helix will be available as a 1st party Xbox console.
— Jason Ronald (@jronald) April 21, 2026
Ronald doesn’t dispute the speculation that Helix chips could be used in third-party devices, however, and considering Xbox’s recent focus on the ubiquity of the brand and confirming that the device will play PC games, it doesn’t seem out of the question. However, with all the big shakeups up top at Xbox following the departure of Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond, and the company moving to completely erase the existence of its “This is an Xbox” advertising campaign, just how much its future plans involve blurring the line between a traditional console and a living room PC are a bit unclear. Still, whatever plans Microsoft had in the works for the next Xbox were in motion long before Asha Sharma took over.
Though the company may be trying to change course on its messaging now, a contentious part of Xbox’s branding in recent years has been about decentering the console itself as a singular product with its own exclusives and ecosystem, and if Helix remains in this weird limbo between console and PC, that might not sit well with fans hoping for a return to console-focused glory.
