Xbox CEO calls Project Helix a "family of devices," not one console

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has walked back the framing of Project Helix, the codename Microsoft attached to its next-generation console in March. Speaking to BBC News, Sharma said the effort now covers multiple machines rather than one flagship box. "We've been hard at work on a great next generation and a great family of devices for Helix, and we'll share more soon," she said.

That March announcement described Helix as Microsoft's "next generation console," language that read as a single successor to the Xbox Series X and Series S. Sharma's new wording, a "family of devices," suggests Microsoft is now planning a lineup spanning different price points or form factors rather than one shared spec, though no models, specs, or release windows have been confirmed.

Sharma did not answer a direct follow-up question about whether any Helix device will ship without a disc drive. That gap is notable given what Microsoft did announce this week: a program letting Xbox owners digitize physical game discs, converting owned copies into digital licenses tied to an account. Pairing a disc-to-digital program with a still-undefined hardware lineup reads as groundwork for at least one discless model, even without Microsoft confirming it outright.

The hardware push sits on top of a partnership Microsoft struck with AMD in 2025, described at the time as a "strategic multi-year" collaboration on silicon for future Xbox devices. That deal is the clearest technical signal so far about what a Helix family might run on, even as Microsoft keeps the product lineup itself under wraps.

For now, Helix remains a name attached to a promise rather than a product: no confirmed device count, no specs, no pricing, and no launch date. Sharma's comments narrow the ambiguity slightly, ruling out the idea of one console replacing the current generation outright, but Microsoft has left the disc question, the device count, and the timeline all open until it decides to "share more."