--- title: "Microsoft reportedly projects its 2028 Xbox at $1,200 to $1,800, with a handheld first" description: "A Fortune profile of Xbox chief Asha Sharma describes a fight over the operating system, à la carte Game Pass, and fears of a sale" author: "Jan Sokol" published: 2026-10-20T21:14:33Z modified: 2026-10-21T02:26:01Z url: https://rews.cc/a/microsoft-reportedly-projects-its-2028-xbox-at-1-200-to-1-80-d932f5 language: en tags: ["microsoft", "xbox", "game-pass", "ai", "project-helix", "tech"] publisher: "Rews (https://rews.cc)" --- # Microsoft reportedly projects its 2028 Xbox at $1,200 to $1,800, with a handheld first *A Fortune profile of Xbox chief Asha Sharma describes a fight over the operating system, à la carte Game Pass, and fears of a sale* By Jan Sokol · October 20, 2026 · https://rews.cc/a/microsoft-reportedly-projects-its-2028-xbox-at-1-200-to-1-80-d932f5 ## In brief - Fortune reports Microsoft projects its next Xbox, Project Helix, at $1,200 to $1,800 without subsidies - The console reportedly targets holiday 2028, with a Microsoft gaming handheld planned for late 2027 - The Xbox team now largely controls the Helix operating system’s direction, according to Fortune - Game Pass is reportedly moving to an à la carte model with add-ons for cloud, console games and multiplayer - Executive Judson Althoff denied staff fears that Sharma was installed to prepare Xbox for a sale For most of its history the game console was the cheap machine. It went under the television, a family bought it instead of a computer, and its price was set low so that the games could make the money. The figures now coming out of Microsoft suggest that bargain is breaking down. According to a long Fortune profile of Xbox chief Asha Sharma, [as Kyle Orland summarised it for *Ars Technica*](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/report-microsofts-project-helix-planned-for-2028-at-1200-to-1800-price/), Microsoft’s internal projections put its next home console, codenamed Project Helix, at between $1,200 and $1,800, arriving in 2028. Wccftech, working from the same profile, adds a condition: that is the price [unless Microsoft chooses to subsidize it](https://wccftech.com/xbox-project-helix-holiday-2028-1200-1800-price-fortune-report/). It also puts the target at the 2028 holiday season, later than the holiday 2027 window that insiders had been suggesting. Before the console comes something smaller: Microsoft apparently plans its own gaming handheld for the end of next year. Microsoft has not confirmed the price or the date. Every one of these numbers comes with a “reportedly” attached. ![An open black and gold case lined with cream satin holds a black game console and wired controller against a yellow background.](https://rews.cc/img/e8d239d5007277ca12402302b208d4d3dbac60af.webp) ## The price of a box The range is worth reading slowly. At the bottom it is $1,200 and at the top $1,800, with the gap between them roughly the price of a whole console in an earlier generation. Earlier estimates had the machine at a little over $1,000. Wccftech’s writer warned that the new range could make the console “a luxury item.” Other coverage drew the same conclusion from the top of the range, with headlines that the price [leaks as high as $1800](https://www.notebookcheck.net/Project-Helix-price-leaks-as-high-as-1800-with-2028-release-date-for-Xbox-console.1429479.0.html). The project was announced with large promises. Sharma first named Helix in March, [telling Game Informer](https://gameinformer.com/2026/03/05/new-xbox-ceo-asha-sharma-discusses-next-gen-console-codenamed-project-helix) about the machine, and the promise as reported was that it would [play your Xbox and PC games](https://www.tomsguide.com/gaming/xbox/next-xbox-will-play-your-xbox-and-pc-games-new-ceo-promises). Later she called it [a “family of devices”](https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/project-helix-will-be-a-family-of-devices-xbox-ceo-confirms/) rather than a single box. A family of devices, yes, but at these prices not one that every family can buy. ## Who owns the operating system Behind the price there is a turf war inside Microsoft. Fortune writes that the Xbox team is “now largely controlling the direction of the operating system for the project,” and coverage has described [a reported split with the Windows team](https://windowsforum.com/news/xbox-project-helix-os-battle-asha-sharmas-reported-split-with-windows-team.449303/). Sharma, for her part, said the two groups are still working closely together. ![Two hands in yellow and coral sleeves grip a cream steering wheel with a microchip at its center against a bright blue background.](https://rews.cc/img/9232f646dc5bf3baf31440678905eadd19abf8c2.webp) The dispute matters because of what Helix is meant to be. A console that plays PC games stands right at the edge of Windows territory, and Windows has long been the company’s oldest and most settled power. One reflection follows: in large organisations, control over the software tends to decide who controls the product, and for now the people who make games appear to have that control. Fortune also reports that Microsoft has pushed the hardware team to bring the Helix timelines forward “by at least several months,” partly by using AI tools where applicable. There is some irony in this. A company that is now [selling artificial intelligence by the token](https://rews.cc/a/satya-nadella-saved-microsoft-once-now-he-has-to-sell-it-by--d1ae94) is also ordering its engineers to use AI to speed up their own schedules. ## Pick and choose The subscription is changing as well. Citing “people familiar with the strategy,” the profile says Xbox Game Pass will soon move to a heavily tiered “a la carte” structure, with “add-ons for console-only games, cloud gaming, and multiplayer.” Today every Game Pass plan includes some cloud gaming, console exclusives and console multiplayer, even for subscribers who never use them. Under the new model, subscribers would choose the pieces they want, and each piece would have its own price. ![A game controller cut into portions rests on a cream plate, with a yellow spatula lifting one piece and navy cutlery on a teal background.](https://rews.cc/img/22d1a89236250281cf928461d45fb2bd26062d69.webp) ## The rumour of a sale Sharma replaced Phil Spencer in February. Since then, Wccftech notes, Microsoft has announced 3,200 Xbox job cuts, and 1,868 of those positions have already gone. In that setting, “several current and former staff members” told Fortune of their fear that Sharma was installed only to carry out painful cuts before a sale of a spun-off Xbox group. Microsoft executive Judson Althoff rejected that reading: > “We would not have put \[Sharma\] on a business we intend to sell. There’s going to be a ton of speculation about all this. Time will tell.” It is the denial that companies usually give, and it ends with the vaguest promise available. In the meantime the timeline is set: a handheld at the end of 2027, a console in the 2028 holiday season, and a projected price that, unless Microsoft decides to subsidise it, will exceed what many buyers can pay.