Xbox Project Helix could be here next year and will offer an epic ray tracing leap
Microsoft says devs will get a first look at Project Helix in 2027, huge ray tracing boost also confirmed
Microsoft has confirmed the next-generation Xbox console – codenamed Project Helix – will be with developers in 2027, enabling them to explore the capacities of the next major system release and prepare the next breed of games. Does that mean it’ll launch in late 2027 or in 2028 instead?
The date comes from Xbox next-gen VP Jason Roland who told an audience at the Game Developers’ Conference that Microsoft is targeting next year for the Project Helix console‘s Alpha release to game makers.
What that means for the consumer release of the console remains to be seen. However, if historical precedent is considered we may be looking at a 2028 release. Microsoft began furnishing devs with Xbox Series X kits in late 2019, before eventually launching the machine in November 2020. So, in all likelihood, we’re about 18 months away from the Xbox ‘Helix’ console, whatever it ends up being called.
Within the briefing, Roland confirmed Microsoft is planning to offer cross-compatibility with PC games, backed up by a post on the Xbox Wire blog, following the event.
“As games increasingly span devices, we’re breaking down the barriers between console and PC games for more seamless cross-device play, and we’re making the Xbox experience consistent across screens,” Roland writes. “This also gives developers a simpler, more unified path to reach more players while helping reduce development costs.”
Microsoft is also promising the custom-made AMD SoC will deliver an “order of magnitude leak in ray tracing performance and capability, integrates intelligence directly into the graphics and compute pipeline, and drives meaningful gains in efficiency, scale, and visual ambition. The result is more realistic, immersive, and dynamic worlds for players.”
The machine will also include support for the next generation of DirectX, AMD FSR Next, next-generation machine learning upscaling and frame generation. There’ll be next-generation ray generation for ray tracing and path tracing, Microsoft also said.
“This is just the start of the next generation and the next 25 years of Xbox, and we can’t wait to share more later this year,” Roland wrote in the blog.
Chris Smith
