Xbox chief confirms Steam Deck rival is in the works, but there’s a catch

A brand new interview with Xbox head, Phil Spencer, has revealed that the long-rumored Xbox handheld is a really actual risk. Nevertheless, there’s a catch, with the Microsoft gaming chief saying that the brand new Steam Deck competitor wouldn’t be with gamers for a couple of years but.

Because the launch of the Steam Deck and Xbox’s partnership with the Logitech G Cloud, in addition to Asus on the ROG Ally, the Microsoft entry into the hand held house has been a continuing speaking level. It’s clear there’s an thought within the works, however it appears prefer it’s going to take some time earlier than it sees the sunshine of day.

In line with Spencer the Xbox workforce nonetheless has a methods to go earlier than the workforce will even decide to the concept. In a Bloomberg interview, it seems that the Xbox {hardware} workforce is within the early levels of design. Spencer mentions that there’s work on prototypes and “what it’d do,” however he’s nonetheless asking the workforce to take inventory of the panorama earlier than going all in.

A big a part of that course of is making certain the Xbox app works as supposed. Amongst all of the evaluations of handhelds working Home windows, there’s one frequent grievance: Home windows. In its present state, the OS struggles to carry a simple expertise when in comparison with Valve’s custom-built model of Linux, SteamOS.

Most producers will ship handhelds with their very own launcher, however these will merely simply launch Steam, Epic, or the Xbox app. Whereas the PC Xbox app itself has obtained a couple of updates in the previous couple of months to enhance stability and usefulness, it’s nonetheless finest used with a mouse and keyboard. Not best for a handheld.

Regardless of this, handhelds outdoors Valve’s providing are most of the time opting to make use of Microsoft Home windows 11 to offer gamers probably the most entry to video games. Linux, and by extension, SteamOS, don’t have entry to some multiplayer titles, or the the coveted Xbox app for Recreation Cross.

Inklings of Xbox pursuing a handheld future happened final yr, weeks earlier than the ROG Ally formally launched. In an organization Hackathon, one engineer developed a {custom} consumer interface dubbed “Home windows Handheld Mode.” This hasn’t seen an official launch, however it was clearly impressed by a number of the decisions being made internally on the computing large.

On the {hardware} aspect, Spencer does say that he loves “constructing gadgets.” This long-term aim appears like an concept that he needs to make sure the corporate is “knowledgeable” about, “by studying and what’s taking place now.”

The brand new Xbox handheld may be years away, however the market is at present flooded with choices. Most gamers agree that the most effective gaming handheld continues to be the Steam Deck. Nevertheless, with Microsoft exploring the house, it may simply upend that scenario as soon as it’s able to hit prime time.