Microsoft Reportedly Still Has Plans To Make Its Own Xbox Handheld

After shelving it to develop ROG Xbox Ally

by Ben Kerry Yesterday, 5pm

This afternoon, we shared a huge report from Windows Central that breaks down a bunch of what Microsoft is working on for the next-generation of Xbox – and in that report, we’ve spotted a little tidbit that hints Team Green still has plans to make its own handheld console at some stage.

That’s right, within the report, journalist Jez Corden talks about ROG Xbox Ally and how it will influence Microsoft’s next home console. While Corden reminds us that Xbox recently shelved its first-party handheld plans recently to focus on partnering with Asus, the reporter went on to suggest that this may only be a temporary move from Microsoft.

Here’s where Corden commented on this:

“Microsoft decided to sideline its own Xbox handheld plans and go to market with the Xbox Ally in partnership with ASUS this year to start gathering feedback on the experience that will essentially power its next wave of “console” hardware. I’m told that Microsoft still plans to make its own Xbox handheld eventually, too, along the lines of this new plan.”

This is pretty interesting information, especially when just a week ago, Xbox president Sarah Bond discussed why the team decided to drop its internal handheld console to focus on ROG Xbox Ally. The new report seems to suggest that this first-party handheld would come sometime after Microsoft’s next home console at this stage, although it doesn’t comment directly on the timeline for all of this.

We’d also be curious to see how a proper Xbox-developed handheld would tackle backwards compatibility – given that the full report claims that our existing libraries will work with the new home console, unlike the way ROG Xbox Ally works. We’ll have to wait and see, we suppose – and in the meantime, feel free to check out that big next-gen report down below.

Would you like to see this still happen? Talk to us about Xbox’s future handheld plans down below.

[source windowscentral.com]

Ben is a News Writer at Pure Xbox, and is a fan of action, racing and straight-up shootin’ in any Xbox game he can get his hands on. When he’s not clutching an Xbox controller like his life depends on it, Ben spends his time listening to music that’s far too old for him, watching football on the telly and probably eating somewhere.

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