The Xbox Portable Will Be Coming This Year, But It Won’t Be Made by Microsoft

This year, Microsoft intends to make a full-scale entry into the portable gaming console market — the device will be released by one of the company’s partners. Successors to the stationary Xbox Series X and S are already in development and will be presented in 2027, the Windows Central resource reported.

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Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and S consoles have been anything but successful, with sales declining quarter over quarter for some time. However, Xbox’s monthly active audience is growing rapidly thanks to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. With titles like mobile Diablo Immortal, Candy Crush Saga, and Hearthstone, as well as core Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Overwatch, Microsoft has secured a strong position in the gaming industry.

However, in the gaming hardware segment, the company’s future is still unclear. In order to increase the profitability of the business, Microsoft has begun to transfer its exclusives to Sony PlayStation – the latest precedent was Forza Horizon 5. In the short term, attracting users on the platforms where they are already located looks more profitable than trying to lure them to the Xbox ecosystem. However, in the long term, such a strategy could pose a threat to the company’s own consoles. Nevertheless, Microsoft does not intend to abandon these devices.

Together with one of the OEM partners — manufacturers of gaming PCs (such as Asus, Lenovo, MSI, Razer) — Microsoft is working on a portable console under the Xbox brand, the release of which is scheduled for this year. The device, codenamed Keenan, will receive the branded branding and appearance in the style of Xbox. It will be a symmetrical answer to Lenovo Legion Go S — Powered by SteamOS on the Valve platform.

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There are few details about the portable Xbox yet. It is assumed that it will run Windows 11, adapted for compact devices. We can probably expect Xbox Game Bar widgets for PC with the ability to adjust TDP and fan speed, as well as optimized operating system control from game controllers. If the experience is successful, other Microsoft partners may join the project.

The development of successors to the Xbox Series X and S has already received the green light from Microsoft’s top brass, including CEO Satya Nadella. The company plans to release a premium console that will succeed the older Xbox Series X, as well as its own portable Xbox and several new controller options. According to Windows Central, the entire lineup should hit the market by 2027. The mainline consoles will be more closely integrated into the Windows ecosystem, making it easier for developers to port games from PCs.

Microsoft will also focus on backward compatibility with games for older Xboxes — a whole department of the company is working on this. In addition, Microsoft intends to implement support for third-party game stores on Xbox consoles: these may include the Epic Games Store, GOG, itch.io, and even Steam. The use of cloud solutions and artificial intelligence will be expanded. New controllers will be able to directly connect to the cloud, which will make it easier for players to switch between devices.

There have been no official comments from Microsoft regarding these plans yet.