The new CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Asha Sharma, seems keen to make an impression. Despite admitting she’s no Phil Spencer when it comes to personal gaming experience, the new Xbox boss has been quick to address the future of the Xbox ecosystem. She opened by promising “the return of Xbox” (which took a little extra explaining), and now, we have our first glimpse of a next-gen device, code-named Project Helix.

Sharma introduced Project Helix on Thursday and has already revealed that the new device will “play your Xbox and PC games” while offering industry-leading performance. Reports from around this time last month were describing the next Xbox as something more akin to a “gaming PC” based on Windows 11, and that seems to be the direction we’re heading in.

We’ll learn more about Project Helix at GDC 2026

Game Developers Conference (GDC), now known as the GDC Festival of Gaming, will be taking place next week from March 9-13. Sharma says she’ll be chatting about Project Helix to “partners and studios” during the event. She says it’s her first GDC, which makes sense given her non-gaming background, previously serving as the President of Microsoft’s CoreAI division.

A hybrid (or double helix, we suppose) console sounds like an interesting prospect, assuming Sharma isn’t simply referring to ‘Xbox on PC’ games in her post. The concept of Xbox exclusives faded during the company’s ‘Xbox Play Anywhere’ and ‘This is an Xbox’ campaigns, so it’s more interesting to look at it the other way around. There are plenty of PC-only games on the market; look to the Steam top-played charts, and it’s easy to pluck out esports-aligned games like Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2.

Not to mention the newly-released Slay the Spire 2, which is available exclusively on PC during its early access phase, though console support is planned at a later date (just like the first game). It’s not unusual for devs to launch into early access on PC – often on Steam – before later focusing on console versions. If titles like these can be playable on a more console-like device, it would be an obvious contrast to what Sony has been doing lately.

What about Sony?

Recent reports tell us Sony doesn’t plan to port its new single-player PS5 exclusives to PC, including Ghost of Yōtei, released back in October, despite its predecessor getting a PC launch a few years after the fact. This is despite new “PC Ready” PlayStation 5 controllers recently debuting in stores, though it should be noted that multiplayer games should still enjoy ports or day one releases on PC; one example being the Sony-published MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls.

Sony had previously warmed to the idea of porting its former PS5 exclusives to PC. This includes the likes of God of War Ragnarök, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and The Last of Us. On the multiplayer side of things, Helldivers 2 was a runaway hit on PC, and it even got an Xbox port back in August. Generally speaking, though, not many PlayStation exclusives make it to Xbox (especially anything developed by Sony as a first-party game) – and now the return to PlayStation exclusives will sidestep Xbox’s plan of opening up support for PC games on its next-gen console.

About the Author

Jack Goodall

At PC Guide, Jack is mostly responsible for reporting on hardware deals. He also specializes in monitors, TVs, and headsets and can be found putting his findings together in a review or best-of guide.