Microsoft Shows 'Sneak Peek' of Xbox Hardware Following Next-Gen Project Helix Console Confirmation

Microsoft has posted a acceptable of "sneak peek" photos showing work-in-progress hardware, pursuing past week's confirmation it was gathering Project Helix, its next-generation PC and Xbox hybrid console.

A trio of achromatic and achromatic photos were posted to societal media this greeting by Microsoft's authoritative Game Dev account. They amusement a console ammunition labelled with "XDK", the company's accustomed statement for an Xbox Developer Kit (an aboriginal hardware prototype utilized by developers, which typically provides method show successful the ballpark of the last console).

Peer person astatine the images, however, and there's thing acquainted astir the machine's plan — oregon what we tin glimpse of it. Indeed, the console ammunition is precise akin to respective past Xbox dev kits — and successful peculiar the XDK for Project Scorpio, the console we present cognize arsenic Xbox One X. Today's photos amusement the instrumentality is adjacent a spot dusty — similar it's been sat astir since the days of Scorpio's development, and precocious brought retired of retirement.

Xbox astatine GDC 🔥 Sneak peek #GDC2026 pic.twitter.com/80amO5lbfh

So, what's going connected here? On the surface, the proposition from the images is that these are photos of the Project Helix dev kit, the upcoming Xbox and PC hybrid console that Microsoft's newly-installed gaming brag Asha Sharma announced the codename of conscionable days ago. Indeed, Sharma made that announcement successful beforehand of this week's yearly Game Developer Conference (GDC) successful San Francisco, wherever the institution is present talking with developers astir its next-gen plans.

The station is intelligibly expected to make hype for that, though there's disorder among fans implicit wherefore this looks similar an existing XDK shell. Of course, it's imaginable that Microsoft is simply reusing Scorpio's XDK casing for Helix. Inside, the XDK whitethorn present person freshly-installed components designed to replicate Microsoft's next-gen plans.

But it's unusual to spot the plan reused, if so that is what is going connected here. In a video showing disconnected the Scorpio dev kit backmost successful 2017, Microsoft showed its console ammunition alongside assorted different Xbox devkits from the past, including developer versions of the archetypal Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The institution does not look to person reused a hardware ammunition previously, respective generations on.

The Xbox Project Scorpio dev kit, successful beforehand of different earlier XDKs. Image: Microsoft

We've asked Microsoft for much item connected what we're seeing present — but successful the meantime, this is undoubtedly different awesome from Xbox that it is so reasoning astir its next-gen console, arsenic the brand's caller absorption looks to dependable the vessel pursuing the departures of erstwhile Microsoft gaming CEO Phil Spencer and Xbox president Sarah Bond.

IGN has overmuch much connected Sharma's accomplishment and the departure of Spencer, including the galore farewells to him from seasoned developers, Spencer's idiosyncratic words to the Xbox assemblage pursuing his departure, and Sharma's ain responses to archetypal concerns astir her caller AI enactment and deficiency of gaming manufacture occupation experience.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social