Microsoft's 2028 Project Helix Console Internally Priced at $1,200 to $1,800

Microsoft has internally projected a price of $1,200 to $1,800 for its next-generation console, code-named Project Helix, targeted for the 2028 holiday season. The figure comes from a wide-ranging Fortune profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, which also reveals a dual hardware strategy: a next-generation handheld device is planned by the end of next year, followed by the console in late 2028.

Microsoft first announced the device in March, describing it only as hardware that will "play your Xbox and PC games." Few details have emerged since. The Fortune report is the first to attach a timeline and a price band to the program.

What does the price range actually mean?

The $1,200 to $1,800 band reflects what has "internally been projected" at the company, according to Fortune. It is not a confirmed retail price. Fortune notes the consumer price could come down if "Microsoft decides to subsidize the cost," a practice console makers have used repeatedly in past hardware generations, selling boxes below build cost to grow the installed base and earn revenue on software.

Even the low end of the range would be historically high for a game console, after accounting for inflation. It would also sit well above the current generation's flagship machines. The takeaway: unless Microsoft subsidizes heavily, the next Xbox will launch at an unprecedented price point for the category.

Why is cutting-edge console hardware getting so expensive?

Two structural forces are driving the cost of high-performance gaming silicon and components. First, the slowdown in Moore's Law means each new process generation delivers smaller gains in cost-per-transistor than it did a decade ago, so console makers can no longer count on falling chip costs over a generation's life. Second, AI-driven demand has tightened supply of memory and other components, pushing prices up across the industry.

The current market already shows the effect:

• Valve's Steam Machine broke the $1,000 starting-price barrier when it shipped on June 29 this year.
• Sony raised PlayStation 5 prices by between $100 and $150, and the two-year-old technology inside the PlayStation 5 Pro now sells for $900.
• The six-year-old Xbox Series X now starts at $750, per Microsoft's own June console price update.

The pattern is consistent: hardware that once fell in price over time now stays flat or climbs. The takeaway: component economics, not Microsoft's margins alone, are setting the floor for what Project Helix can cost.

What comes first — the handheld or the console?

Fortune's profile of Sharma alludes to a dual release strategy. The handheld arrives first, planned by the end of next year, while the console follows in the 2028 holiday window. That sequencing suggests Microsoft wants a presence in the portable segment — where Valve's Steam Deck and its successors have proven demand — ahead of its flagship launch.

For semiconductor watchers, the more significant datapoint is the price band itself. A $1,200 floor implies Microsoft expects leading-edge compute, memory, and associated silicon to remain scarce and costly through 2028, with AI datacenter demand continuing to crowd out consumer allocations. If those internal projections hold, the traditional subsidized-console model will face its hardest test yet when Helix reaches shelves.