Microsoft Xbox handheld is likely happening

Rumours about the Xbox handheld have been coming for months now and Microsoft’s Xbox chief, Phil Spencer, has already dropped several hints about the handheld Xbox console. Spencer, in an interview with IGN Spencer, mentioned “I think we should have a handheld too.”

For something that has been a part of leaks and rumours for a long time, this statement indicates that there’s a possibility of Xbox handheld console in future. Although the timeline is uncertain, we expect this to happen in coming years.

“The future for us in hardware is pretty awesome. The work that the team is doing around different form factors and different ways to play, I’m incredibly excited about,” said Spencer.

He also mentioned, “Today was about the games... but we will have time to come out and talk more about the platform.”

Spencer also hinted at Xbox handheld’s capabilities to run the game locally. He said, “ “I like my ROG Ally, my Lenovo Legion Go, my Steam Deck. I think being able to play games locally is really important”.

This clearly indicates that the Xbox handheld will allow users to download and run the game in place of cloud streaming or cassette-based streaming of games like PlayStation Portal.

Other hints about Xbox handheld from Phil Spencer
This is not the first time when Spencer has talked about the potential Xbox handheld. In an interview with Polygon, “I want to be able to boot into the Xbox app in a full screen, but in a compact mode”. ““Like I want it to feel like the dash of my Xbox when I turn on the television. [Except I want it] on those devices”, he further added.

This indicates that Microsoft will optimise the Xbox’s on-screen software experience for a relatively smaller device.