Microsoft's efforts to make their own first party xbox handheld have apparently suffered a setback; These are now on hold in favor of other priorities.
In the past few months, new efforts have been spoken about again and again about Microsoft's foothold in the handheld area. According to this, there will still be a PC handheld with Xbox branding in cooperation with a third-party provider, which has already been launched online. In addition, Microsoft is said to have worked on its own first party handheld behind the scenes, which should presumably have appeared for the next Xbox generation. However, these efforts have now suffered a setback.
According to a new report by the well-known and reliable Microsoft insider Jez Corden, other priorities are now focusing on the company. According to this, the company initially wants to concentrate on improving gaming performance under Windows 11 – also on portable devices such as “Project Kennan” from Asus.
In the course of this, the work on the first party handheld from Microsoft is now moving into the background and apparently no longer enjoying a priority. In this context, however, Corden emphasizes that an Xbox handheld is not entirely off the table. Rather, Microsoft wants to invest in its own portable console in the future. For the moment, in terms of handheld solution, the support of third-party-oem handhelds such as that of Asus is prioritized.
For the moment you will have to be satisfied with products such as “Project Kennan” from Asus, which should continue to be planned in 2025. The already leaked product is more of a PC handheld with Xbox branding, which is then said to have (mobile) access to the Xbox Game Pass and the Microsoft Store; In addition, Steam should also be installed there.
It remains to be seen whether and until when there will also be a Microsoft handheld that can not only play Windows 11 PC games (as the Asus counterpart), but also Xbox title. The efforts for Microsoft's first party handheld then basically go into these directions and should be very ambitious according to the cords-if they are then enjoyed again and are actually implemented. However, nothing became known of layoffs with regard to the internal realignment and allocation of the resources.
