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Where is Microsoft’s handheld Xbox?

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/7/23862655/microsoft-xbox-handheld-editorial-steam-deck

Microsoft has been focused on cloud gaming via phones instead.

The Steam Deck has kick-started a wave of handhelds from some of the big names in PC gaming. Asus has its Windows-powered ROG Ally, Lenovo just announced its own Legion Go handheld PC, and Logitech released a cloud-focused handheld. AMD has been quietly arming an entire new wave of Steam Deck competitors, and that got me thinking: where’s Microsoft’s Xbox handheld?

4 comments

MomoTimeToDie

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Vertelleus

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Do you mean Xbox Game Pass Ultimate? It can be streamed out of a browser or mobile app.
Why would they need a hardware device when your probably holding a device that supports cloud streaming and they can milk you for a subscription fee?

nantsuu

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With the Switch 2 probably releasing next year, the handheld market is already pretty crowded as it is. What would differentiate Microsoft's offering from the rest? They didn't bother even when the market was just DS/PSP.

Whirlybird

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There doesn’t need to be one. Any windows handheld can run Microsoft’s first party games.

Microsoft are having enough trouble with home consoles, we don’t need them spreading themselves thin with an underpowered handheld too.

A mate of mine has the ROG Ally and while it’s a damn nice device, when playing uncharted 4 on it to show the performance to me it chewed through like 25% battery in about 15 minutes. You can’t have high performance handheld while having even remotely good battery life.

autotldr

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This is the best summary I could come up with:

AMD has been quietly arming an entire new wave of Steam Deck competitors, and that got me thinking: where’s Microsoft’s Xbox handheld?

Microsoft has developed a lightweight version of the Xbox user interface that can run on handheld devices, dedicated cloud consoles, and TVs.

The device, codenamed Project Keystone, was then spotted on Xbox chief Phil Spencer’s shelf in October, confirming that the company had manufactured some units.

That’s likely all because regulators around the world have been focused on Microsoft’s cloud gaming efforts as part of a review of its proposed Activision Blizzard deal.

Microsoft’s desktop-focused operating system doesn’t scale down well to smaller devices, especially when a touchscreen or analog sticks are involved.

Valve put a lot of effort into the underlying SteamOS that powers the Steam Deck so that you don’t have to navigate around a desktop Linux environment to get to your favorite games.

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