Next Xbox console could cost as much as US$1800 without subsidies

Yesterday, we wrote about the increasing likelihood that the PS6 will have an eye-watering price tag of at least US$1,000 (about C$1,400). Now, we’re learning that Microsoft’s rival console, the PC-like Project Helix, could cost well above that.

In a big new feature from Fortune focusing on recently appointed Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, we get a better idea of Xbox’s hardware plans for the next two years. Part of this reportedly includes a handheld device coming by the 2027 holiday season, as well as Project Helix the following year. Fortune also reports that a “major overhaul” of Xbox Game Pass is planned that would introduce a tiered system through which players choose features à la carte, including console-only games, cloud gaming and multiplayer.

But the biggest revelation from Fortune‘s piece is rumoured price for Helix, which the publication pegs at anywhere between US$1,200 and $1,800 (around C$1,650 to $2,500) unless Xbox subsidizes the cost. Naturally, this staggering price cost is the result of AI-driven component shortages brought about by the likes of Microsoft itself.

However, that is an obscene price range even if Microsoft does indeed eat some of the cost. It’s also unclear how much this handheld may cost. Interestingly, Fortune noted that its development recently sparked a “rekindling of an old turf battle between the Xbox and Windows teams.” In particular, Windows leaders wanted the upcoming handheld device to use a “trimmed-down” version of Windows Home, while Xbox was pushing its own software for peak performance. Tensions supposedly “ran high enough” that a senior Xbox exec threatened to scrap the handheld entirely, but ultimately, Xbox is now “largely controlling” the direction of the OS.

But all of these console and handheld rumblings honestly feel besides the point. Frankly, it begs the question, even if  pricing was much lower, of why anyone would buy an Xbox device right now, anyway. Even before the so-called RAMmageddon, substantially fewer people have been buying Xbox consoles over the past several years, and nothing the company has done lately has exactly instilled much confidence.

Above all else, Microsoft has been gutting the Xbox brand through thousands of layoffs at the likes of Obsidian, Halo Studios, Zenimax Online, id Software and Vancouver-based The Coalition, as well numerous studio closures, divestitures and consolidations. It’s been doing these reductions in waves, too, which Fortune notes has naturally left staff “demoralized, feeling as if they are sitting under a year-long cloud, waiting to see if there their roles will be eliminated next.” Per the publication, Xbox is eyeing more layoffs this month, November and January, although it noted that these plans could change.

Among these layoffs, we’ve seen veterans who have been in the industry for decades on the likes of Doom being axed, causing Xbox to lose invaluable institutional knowledge. Other examples of the company’s callousness and short-sightedness include promoting Halo Studios’ cinematic director and laying him off in the same week, axing Gears of War: E-Day‘s story director only a few weeks before the game’s launch and letting go of one of the key driving forces behind backwards compatibility and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Meanwhile, Sharma wants to focus on bigger franchises like Call of Duty, Fallout and Minecraft as part of a wildly ambitious goal of reaching one billion people daily. To be clear, that figure includes console, PC, mobile and adaptations like the Fallout TV series, and Xbox even formed a new division focused on this multimedia Hollywood approach. Nonetheless, getting rid of thousands of the people who made Xbox what it is certainly isn’t a good way to help reach such a lofty goal.

All of this has led to rampant speculation that Microsoft is simply “cleaning up” Xbox to make it more appealing to potential buyers. In particular, Fortune noted that several current and former staff members do believe that Xbox is being prepared “for an eventual sale, spin-off, outside investment or conversion into a subsidiary,” also citing a high-level internal presentation with Sharma exploring these very scenarios that The Information had previously reported on.

Naturally, Microsoft denies looking to offload Xbox, claiming it has a long-term vision for gaming. And speaking to Fortune, Judson Althoff, who leads Microsoft commercial business, said Xbox is valuable to the company’s wider operations because its low-latency demands stress-test Microsoft’s cloud, it helps maintain retail relationships with the likes of Walmart and it connects the company to creators through Minecraft.

Time will tell how this all pans out, but one thing’s for sure: Xbox is a mess right now.