Project Helix is the codename for the next generation version of Xbox and is set to feature everything you can expect from a proper next-gen console including state-of-the-art hardware, better integration with games and much more. However, the ongoing shortage across the industry may cause Microsoft to rethink their strategy for the next Xbox, in more ways than one.
In the recent Summer Game Fest, Xbox’s Chief Strategy Officer, Matthew Ball, spoke to Gamespot regarding the overall market situation after the AI boom which has caused hardware prices to skyrocket throughout the industry. Ball stated that the company isn’t able to meet demands for new consoles due to the current market condition, however it also means that the incentive for the next console is still there.
“We are producing them as quickly as possible. These is a severe limitation to how quickly we can do that, but it’s not a question of appetite,” he said. “That is a prilvege as a company. It is a challenge for us to figure out.”
He also shared some insights on what it all currently mean for project Helix:
“We are working very hard to rethink everything that we can about Helix, which is a console we are committed to shipping,” he said. “We are very cognizant of the ways in which we need the change as a company to make sure it is affordable, to make sure that it’s flexible. We are working hard to rethinking what that console model can look like, not in an exclusionary way, but in an additive way, so that as we take a look at this crisis, which may have acute effects for 2-2.5 years.”
“We are working very hard to figure out the best way to navigate it or a way that works for everyone, that does not ask too much from players,” he said. “We also have tens of millions of people who we ask to spend $500 which is still an incredible sum of money. Those people that we asked to buy a console years ago, we still have an obligation to them to meet their expectations and to have them feel rewarded for which platform they chose.”
