Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told the BBC that the next console, Project Helix, has to chase "efficiency and affordability alongside performance." She would not say whether Helix ships a disc drive. Dev kits are not due until 2027. Helix is described as a console/PC hybrid.

As an industry, we're in the middle of 'Rampocalypse'.

RAM and storage prices are up because AI data centers are buying the same chips. Microsoft is one of the buyers. Xbox already hiked current hardware this month: UK Series S 512GB to £430 (from £250 at launch), Series X 1TB with disc to £670 (from £450). The translucent green 25th Anniversary Series X is $899.99.

We've reached a point where it will be hard to imagine that mass audiences can afford thousands of dollars to spend on a console generation.

That line is from June. In the BBC sit-down she added that Xbox will look at "how they play their console and how they purchase their console," and at "hardware efficiency in terms of how you use storage and memory." In June she also floated "radically different business models" later this year. No detail on what that is.

Same interview: disc-to-digital. Insert a supported Xbox One or Series X disc, claim a digital license. About 1,000 titles at first. Insider test starts 31 August. The license follows the disc if you sell it. Sharma tied it to backwards compatibility on future hardware.

Within Xbox, we haven't been healthy.

Source: BBC