Microsoft Projects $1,200 to $1,800 Price for 2028 Helix Console

Microsoft has internally projected a price of $1,200 to $1,800 for its Project Helix game console, due out during the 2028 holiday season, according to a Fortune profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma cited by Ars Technica on Oct. 20, 2026.

The figure, which Ars Technica describes as "internally projected" rather than final, would mark one of the highest entry prices in console history even adjusted for inflation. It arrives in a market already testing buyers' limits: the Steam Machine broke the $1,000 starting price this year, the two-year-old PlayStation 5 Pro now sells for $900, and the six-year-old Xbox Series X starts at $750, Ars Technica reports.

What is Project Helix, and when will it ship?

Microsoft announced Project Helix in March as a device that will "play your Xbox and PC games," according to Ars Technica's earlier coverage referenced in the report. Fortune's profile describes a two-step rollout: a handheld device expected by the end of next year, followed by the console itself in the 2028 holiday window.

Why might the console cost $1,200 to $1,800?

Microsoft could lower the retail price by subsidizing the hardware, a strategy console makers have used for decades to sell devices below manufacturing cost and recoup losses through software and services, Ars Technica notes. Absent a subsidy, the projected range reflects what the outlet calls "a new normal" for cutting-edge gaming hardware, driven by a slowdown in Moore's Law — the long-standing pattern of computing power roughly doubling every couple of years — and AI-driven shortages of key components.

What handheld is Microsoft planning for 2027?

Fortune's reporting, as relayed by Ars Technica, points to a "next-generation handheld device" slated for release by the end of next year, ahead of the Helix console itself. The comparison point is last year's ROG Xbox Ally, a handheld that paired Xbox branding with a trimmed version of Windows — a model now reportedly in dispute inside Microsoft for the next device.

Why are Microsoft teams clashing over the handheld's software?

Fortune cites "people briefed on the clash" in reporting a fight over whether the Helix handheld will run a stripped-down version of Windows Home or a bespoke operating system built and controlled by the Xbox group. One high-level executive reportedly threatened to cancel the handheld entirely rather than ship it on Windows. That standoff appears to have tilted the project toward Xbox: the team is "now largely controlling the direction of the operating system," Fortune writes, though Sharma told the outlet the Windows and Xbox groups are still working closely together. Microsoft has also pushed its hardware team to move up Helix's timeline "by at least several months," in part by applying AI tools where possible, according to the profile.

Is Xbox being prepared for a sale, and what does Game Pass have to do with it?

Separately, Fortune reports that Xbox Game Pass is expected to shift toward a tiered, "a la carte" structure, citing "people familiar with the strategy." Under that model, subscribers would pick individual add-ons for console-only games, cloud gaming, and multiplayer rather than receiving all three bundled in, as current plans do regardless of whether a subscriber uses them.

The restructuring lands amid broader unease at Microsoft. Fortune's profile cites concerns from "several current and former staff members" that Sharma was installed to carry out painful cuts ahead of a possible sale or spinoff of part of the Xbox business. Microsoft executive Judson Althoff pushed back on that characterization directly: "We would not have put [Sharma] on a business we intend to sell. There's going to be a ton of speculation about all th[is]," he told Fortune, according to Ars Technica's account.

Glossary: Key terms in this story

Project Helix — Microsoft's planned gaming hardware line, announced in March, intended to play both Xbox and PC games; it covers a 2027 handheld and a 2028 console under current reporting.

Game Pass à la carte — A proposed restructuring of Xbox's subscription service that would let users buy separate add-ons for console games, cloud gaming, and multiplayer instead of one bundled tier.

Windows Home — A consumer edition of Microsoft's Windows operating system; a trimmed version of it currently runs on devices like the ROG Xbox Ally.

Moore's Law — The decades-old observation that computing power tends to double roughly every two years; its slowdown is cited as one reason modern gaming hardware costs more to build.

Microsoft has not publicly confirmed the price range, the handheld timeline, or the Game Pass changes described in Fortune's profile.

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