At the Xbox Games Showcase the company revealed three new versions of the Xbox Series S and Series X, but the long rumoured handheld was nowhere to be seen.
However, Xbox head-honcho Phil Spencer has now seemingly all but confirmed the existence of a handheld. Speaking to IGN after the Xbox showcase, Phil was very specifically asked about the possibility of an Xbox handheld.
“I think we should have a handheld, too.” says Phil with a big grin. But when asked if he wanted to say anything about it he quickly says “I think you have to have Sarah on, Sarah Bond, our president of Xbox.”
But Phil seemingly can’t help himself and adds: “The future for us in hardware is pretty awesome, and the work that the team is doing around different form factors, different ways to play, I’m incredibly excited. Today was about the games.”
“We will have a time to come out and talk more about platforms and we can’t wait to bring it to you guys.”
Understanding that no definitive answer would be forthcoming, IGN switched tactics and asked about a hypothetical scenario. In this scenario, IGN proposed that if Xbox did make a handheld, would it be more akin to a SteamDeck, a dedicated piece of hardware that runs games, or more like a streaming device.
“So, I like my ROG Ally, my Lenovo Legion Go is fantastic, my SteamDeck. I think being able to play games locally is really important.”
It’s a very difficult interview to get a read on. On the one hand, Phil’s choice of words, his grins and the way he plays to the crowd’s excitement over the possibility of an Xbox handheld device would seemingly all point to it being a real thing and that Phil is drumming up excitement for it.
On the other hand, Phil Spencer does tend to talk out of both sides of his mouth, as do a lot of high-up execs and its difficult to take anything he, Sarah Bond or any of the other Xbox leadership says seriously anymore.