I've got to hand it to Microsoft - declaring that the next-gen Xbox will rival the yet-to-be-released Steam Machine is a bold move. The gaming giant's new CEO, Asha Sharma, used buzzwords like "performance" and "PC games" in what was otherwise a bland announcement, but I'm nervous that Project Helix is about to ditch console sensibilities completely.
Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that there's actually a next-gen Xbox battleplan. For a hot minute, it felt like the "this is an Xbox" campaign would transform Microsoft's gaming brand into a non-physical entity that haunts your TV and smart devices, or, at the very best, a badge on the front of the best gaming handheld contenders like the $1,000 ROG Xbox Ally X that could have existed without a themed button.
Having spent a lot of time with the aforementioned Xbox handheld, the new Project Helix announcement has reignited some fears. Most of them are tied to Windows 11 and its insistence on terrorizing me daily, but I'm also hyper-aware that if Microsoft pivots to combating the Steam Machine, it will simply turn itself into a PC that does even less for longstanding console owners.
The bigger picture (mode)
I should make it clear that I don't think drawing inspiration from the Steam Machine is a bad thing. Microsoft is the last company that should try to do it, though, as you could argue that avoiding Windows is why many players opt for something like the Steam Deck OLED. Even fans of the operating system will admit that it's finicky compared to traditional console suites and Valve's tried and tested SteamOS, even if the new Xbox Full Screen Experience slightly streamlines things.
For what it's worth, I enjoy using the Xbox Full Experience over trying to smash my digits into taskbar icons and shortcuts to get games running. It is effectively trying to provide the same roles as SteamOS or the Windows app's Big Picture Mode, in that it unifies your library and provides access to settings without using a mouse or keyboard. However, both aren't remotely like-for-like, as Microsoft's take on consolization is more or less an overlay that's tied to a messy operating system foundation.
Put it this way, if I had tried to kick back and play my Xbox 360 in the 2000s, only to find that a hiccup had forced me back into a desktop environment where Skype is screaming at me to log in, I'd probably yeet it out my window. If Project Helix were to use the Full Screen Experience in its current form, I'd end up effectively in the same, or perhaps worse, scenario since the 2026 OS is being ravaged by Co-Pilot nonsense and even more irritating Microsoft Teams integration enabled at start-up.
Effectively, Project Helix absolutely needs a more refined solution than the current Xbox Full Screen experience. The issue there is that Windows 11 itself keeps the feature from reaching its true potential, and untethering it from the operating system, or providing it with a drastically different build, is ultimately the solution. In a way, that would look like Microsoft is admitting it isn't fit for purpose, and well, I feel like that's not going to happen.
I do feel like if we were going to get a stripped-down version of Windows 11 purely for gaming, it would have arrived with the Xbox Ally. Again, Microsoft likely doesn't feel its OS features are bloat, but that's the appropriate term for anything that can potentially intrude on your sessions or, in extreme cases, hamper your frame rates. Plus, creating such a build would help even desktop users potentially escape the "Microslop" of Co-Pilot AI and other features, which feels counterintuitive to the company's questionable goals.
Don't turn your back on compatibility
I feel like I need to keep shouting this to dodge PC enthusiast pitchforks, but I don't hate the idea of the next-gen Xbox running PC games. If anything, I simply find the strategy confusing since it implies that Microsoft is simply planning to build a Windows-based Steam Machine, and uh, I'm technically using one of those to write this very article (it's called a computer, guys).
Okay, I'll stop being facetious, as I know integrating things like wireless controller receivers and making it much smaller is what will help Project Helix feel like a console rather than a rig. My real concern is that by switching over to a PC architecture, Microsoft might end up trading support for Series X/S games just in the hope that you'll choose Game Pass over Steam, and that's one hell of a flawed gamble.
I'm trying to put myself in Microsoft's shoes, and my guess is that since they spent most of the current generation releasing all the same Xbox games on PC, backwards compatibility isn't really worth thinking about. The issue there is that they're abandoning a large chunk of their playerbase that bought the box to retain some sort of access to One, 360, and OG Xbox releases, and that's going to be pretty hard, and it feels like that's out the window on a rig.
The likelihood is that Microsoft is hoping you'll stream legacy games using Game Pass rather than trying to run physical discs or even older downloads. This has admittedly been the pitch for a while, as even Series X/S backwards compatibility feels pretty lacking compared to the 360 and One. I'm not convinced that maintaining access to its own offline ecosystem, or even making ports and using emulation to make it a thing on PC, is a priority for the company, but I reckon that's what would actually convince players to stick with Project Helix.
A world of performance pain
As someone who uses a merry-go-round of platforms, I'm trying to empathise with traditional console players. The Xbox and PS5 owners in my life certainly aren't the type that would spend time tweaking PC settings to boost fps before diving into new games, but at the same time, I know from experience that if you can mess around with refinements, there is a temptation to do so.
On occasion, I actively choose to play games on the Switch 2 and PS5 simply to escape thinking about frame rates. Maybe that's a complex I've developed after years of testing the best graphics cards, but I don't think it's unreasonable to say that the appeal of console gaming is partly the convenience of optimized performance. Whether you want to then rag on developers for not hitting 60fps or textures looking naff compared to PC is another conversation entirely, but placing the onus on players through settings intervention doesn't feel like the answer.
Maybe I'm wrong; there could be an abundance of people out there itching to dial in all their own settings on a console. You could say those are the players who are likely to gravitate towards something like the Steam Machine, but given the nature of Windows, it feels more like providing console players with a PC environment could just be another hurdle in the way of quick couch gaming experiences. But, sometimes it can feel like Windows as a platform itself is against you in terms of performance, and that's illustrated by the issues I've recently had playing Fallout: New Vegas on the Xbox Ally compared to the Steam Deck.
This is all assuming that, like the Steam Machine, components won't be that customizable. There's a really annoying scenario that could emerge here where players hit a wall with trying to squeeze performance out of Project Helix, only to find that the ultimate answer is to have just bought a regular, customizable PC. At that stage, you're faced with an experience that you might have to mess around with to optimize, all while being stopped from accessing physical upgrade solutions.
Of course, those concerns could be unfounded. Project Helix could be a fully customizable PC. Does that mean it's no longer an Xbox? I mean, yeah, but Asha Sharma annoucement wording makes me doubt that's the ultimate strategy. To quote, the "console" will allegedly play "your Xbox and PC games," and I'm clinging onto hope that means a unique environment that has its back covered in terms of backwards compatibility, dodges Windows caveats, and provides the platform interconnectivity the project's Helix namesake entails.
If one thing's certain, it's that the next Xbox doesn't feel like it'll be in the same ring as the PS6, and whether it should be picking fights with the upcoming Steam Machine remains to be seen.
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