Newsletter
Microsoft is reportedly working on multiple Xbox handheld prototypes that would allow gamers to bring their favorite titles with them anywhere. Unlike Microsoft’s current solution which uses Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and its cloud gaming feature, these prototypes would support natively installing games from your Xbox library.
If Microsoft truly has this type of device in development, it’s the kind of thing Xbox fans have been hoping for. A way to play their Xbox console game library on the go without the use of the cloud. You can technically already do this with something like the ROG Ally and the Xbox Game Pass app for Windows. After all, most of the titles on the Xbox are available on PC so long as you have the game subscription. But by the sounds of the rumor, this would be a handheld console. Not a handheld gaming PC.
Xbox handheld prototypes might stay prototypes
The prospect of an Xbox handheld is certainly exciting. And why shouldn’t it be? A native way from Microsoft to play Xbox console games on the go would be a product that many are likely after. And who knows, if it did well maybe it would convince Sony to try handhelds again. It’s worth remembering though, that these might stay prototypes and nothing more.
Details about the handhelds come from Windows Central’s Jez Corden who recently talked about it on the Xbox Two Podcast (via Wccftech). Croden highlights that these might not make it to market. As multiple prototypes being in the works doesn’t mean they will ever launch.
But he also points out that it would be “ridiculous for Microsoft and Sony to not want to be in that space” when referring to the current landscape of gaming handhelds. The Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and other similar handhelds are extremely popular. The Nintendo Switch is extremely popular. And with handhelds taking off, it just makes sense for Microsoft to at least consider this type of product.