There have been rumors of an Xbox handheld for years, but the company has yet to make an official announcement. Until now, that is.
While speaking with Bloomberg, Phil Spencer, the Head of Xbox, confirmed that the company is planning a handheld device akin to a Steam Deck. Spencer says the “expectation is that we would do something.” Currently, Microsoft is working on various prototypes. Presumably, they are to determine whether they’ll go the Steam Deck route of having a fully dedicated handheld, the PlayStation route of having a device that can stream games from your console, or the Nintendo route of having a dual home console/handheld device.
Currently, Microsoft allows players to stream select Xbox games to their phones through the Xbox app. However, Spencer admits that while it’s a viable option, it’s not ideal. “Longer term, I love us building devices,” Spencer says about the future of Xbox hardware. “And I think our team could do some real innovative work, but we want to be informed by learning and what’s happening now.”
