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“We've been hard at work on a great next generation and a great family of devices for Project Helix. We will continue to push the boundaries of performance [...] we've talked about being able to play console and PC games on your console.”

This is the first instance of confirmation that Xbox’s Project Helix is not just an individual box, long thought to be a PC/console hybrid, but a family of multiple devices, something rumored, but not said outright, officially. That raises the question of what a family of devices might look like under the Xbox brand, and there seem to be several potential options.

Helix Series X – I am using the Series X badge here to indicate the high-end concept of the unit, the combination of PC and console capabilities that, without question, is going to be extremely expensive. It already costs $800 for a current 1 TB Series X, a 6-year-old system, so a new generation of hardware with a more ambitious concept should easily cost over $1000, and it will be a top-end machine that Microsoft will certainly not expect to drive the bulk of sales.

Helix Series S – The lower-spec hardware unit, and the one that would look to be the most popular pick. This would reduce power and features, but the key is to reduce price. A relatively low-priced new-gen console is still going to be enormously expensive in the next few years, but there needs to be at least some kind of box with an acceptable price out there. But unlike the Series S, it can’t be so noticeably far behind in power that it actively becomes a problem. I do not see a tier below this one getting into truly bottom-tier pricing like the Series S was with its $300 launch. That’s just not the state Xbox or the industry is in. It’s hard to imagine a floor here being anything under $600.

Helix Disc Drive SKU – On either unit, the idea would be a separate SKU with a disc drive, similar to the disc/digital split we have in this generation. Sony has committed to ending production of new PlayStation discs starting in 2028, but Xbox has taken advantage of the negative sentiment around that, talking about game preservation with a new, rather cool, disc-to-digital system. However, it seems extremely unlikely there will be a disc SKU on these new consoles, adding to an already expensive total. At best, perhaps a sold-separately drive, but the most likely answer is that Microsoft’s disc-to-digital idea is going to be the compromise for this situation.

Helix Handheld Unit – We have been watching prices for the XBOX ROG Ally handheld soar as we speak, but the idea is that Xbox will make its own first-party handheld hardware to keep up with competition like the Switch, to some extent. There are reports that this concept was shelved a while ago, but this is new management and a new device family. Again, costs come into play here, as while a Switch can get away with a docked/handheld unit at $500 right now, it is hard to believe this would not be far more expensive. Still, it is certainly in keeping with Xbox trying to expand its footprint beyond a box attached to your TV, and it makes sense for this to be one of the items in the lineup.

Helix Streaming Device – Microsoft’s idea of allowing players to play their games without console hardware, rather through streaming, is not going anywhere. The concept here is that even though you can stream to tablets and smart TVs now; this would be some sort of small first-party plug-and-play streaming box dedicated to the concept, reinforcing the ability to “play anywhere” without being entirely reliant on non-Xbox devices.

It is a little hard to think outside the box (no pun intended) and come up with more device possibilities past these. The biggest challenge is likely determining the capabilities and costs of the two main boxes, as they will be the most purchased and most important for maintaining and attracting Game Pass subscriptions. Right now, it seems like Xbox is still figuring this out internally, and next gen, both for it and Sony, is being pushed back further due to the component and cost crisis. But at least Xbox is talking about it while PlayStation is not.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.