The rumour mill is in overdrive that a new handheld Xbox console is in the works courtesy of Window’s Central’s Jez Corden.
Prompted by a statement made on Twitter by Insider Gaming‘s Tom Henderson, which theorised Microsoft would be looking into a portable Xbox, Corden replied with a confident ‘They are’.
The successes of the Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally and the Nintendo Switch is evidence enough that players want access to their game libraries wherever they choose to play.
Jez Corden has gone so far to call a theoretical portable Xbox system ‘absolutely necessary’ in an opinion piece on Window’s Central. Corden’s information has been reliable in the past but only time will tell if he’s on the money with this one.
Corden has also been vocal about Microsoft greenlighting multiple hardware projects over the past couple of weeks, although he has yet to elaborate on these claims.
Bizarrely, similar rumours and speculation are also circling the Sony camp following known leaker Moore’s Law is Dead’s assertions that a follow-up to the PS Vita is in the works.
The Xbox Series P?!
The chatter around an Xbox handheld is just another talking point in the growing mystery about Microsoft’s planned future for the Xbox brand.
Outside of the handheld discourse, reports are mounting that a major shift in Microsoft’s gaming strategy is underway with the platform holder apparently weighing up releasing existing exclusives such as Hi-Fi Ruch, Sea of Thieves and Starfield on other platforms. This pivot could also apply to upcoming exclusives such as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
As for what a the rumoured system could be called, we’ve already seen a few suggestions from the wider gaming community. We’ve seen suggestions of a ‘Xbox Series H’ for ‘handheld and a ‘Series E’ for ‘Everywhere’.
Meanwhile, we’ve been chortling at the idea that Microsoft would christen a handheld Xbox as the ‘Xbox Series P’ for ‘Portable’.
Dodo Towers has been a titter with potential scenarios if Microsoft dubbed a handheld Xbox with the sixteenth letter of the alphabet.
Lines such as ‘don’t forget to charge your P’, ‘stop playing with your P or you’ll go blind’, and ‘my P is suffering from stick drift’ have certainly livened up our afternoon.
