An Xbox Partner Handheld Is Reportedly Coming As Early As This Year
Image: Asus / Microsoft / Kotaku
Microsoft may be pivoting to a multiplatform approach for its biggest games, but that doesnât mean itâs abandoning hardware just yet. The company reportedly has an Xbox partner handheld planned for 2025 as it works on its next-gen consoles aiming for release in 2027. It looks like the Switch 2 wonât be the only handheld console hybrid players have to choose from this year.
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Suggested ReadingThatâs according to a new report by Windows Central. It claims the new device will be an Xbox-branded PC gaming handheld from an existing OEM and that itâs codenamed âKeenan.â Itâll have an official Xbox guide button and is currently planned to launch later this year, with the successor to the Xbox Series X/S generation of consoles greenlit for a planned launch as early as 2027. Notably, it sounds like itâll be a single next-gen console, with the current Series S potentially subsumed by the handheld if itâs successful.
The report also claims that the next generation of controllers might feature âdirect-to-cloud connectivity.â Itâs believed the Microsoftâs work with generative AI and the existing Windows platform for PC will both play a greater role in Xboxâs future as well. This dovetails with recent signals from the companyâs top leadership.
Last year, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said the company was exploring a gaming handheld but that a finished product was still a couple of years out. Itâs possible thatâs still the case, and that this 2025 âXbox-brandedâ handheld is considered more of a half-step in that direction. Earlier this year at CES 2025, Jason Ronald, Microsoftâs VP of âNext Generation,â told The Verge the company was the aiming to bring the âbest of Xbox and Windows togetherâ for future PC gaming handhelds, seemingly through a new gaming-centric OS or OS layer that could compete more directly with SteamOS.
Update;Â 3/10/25 5:30 p.m. ET: As clarified in an exchange between The Vergeâs Tom Warren and Windows Centralâs Jez Corden, Keenan will be something of a reskinned âpartnerâ PC Gaming handheld running this new software layer, not a full-blown Xbox device developed in-house.
These moves come as rumors swirl about Sony working on bringing back its own line of gaming handhelds and with Nintendoâs Switch 2 just on the horizon. This time around, however, it doesnât seem like Microsoft plans to fight the competition with exclusives. The company started bringing its games to PlayStation 5 and the existing Switch last year, and its more powerful specs suggest weâll see even more Xbox games on Switch 2. Microsoft also previously committed to start bringing Call of Duty back to Nintendoâs platform in one form or another.
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