Revealed earlier this month, Microsoft revealed a few more Project Helix details during its GDC Xbox Developer Summit keynote address.
Project Helix is designed to play your Xbox console and PC games, delivering leading performance and ushering in the next generation of console gaming.
As part of our multi-year partnership with AMD, we are shaping the future of rendering and simulation. Project Helix is powered by a custom AMD SoC and co-designed for the next generation of DirectX and FSR to unlock what comes next.
It delivers an order of magnitude leap in ray tracing performance and capability, integrates intelligence directly into the graphics and compute pipeline, and drives meaningful gains in efficiency, scale, and visual ambition. The result is more realistic, immersive, and dynamic worlds for players.
I’m excited to share we plan to ship alpha versions of the hardware to developers beginning in 2027.
Powered By Custom AMD SOC
- Codesigned for Next Generation of DirectX
- Next Gen Raytracing Performance & Capabilities
- GPU Directed Work Graph Execution
AMD FSR Next + Project Helix
- Built for Next Generation of Neural Rendering
- Next Generation ML Upscaling
- New ML Multi Frame Generation
- Next Gen Ray Regeneration for RT and Path Tracing
Deep Texture Compression
- Neural Texture Compression
- Direct Storage + Zstd
And, we’re committed to keeping games from four generations of Xbox playable for years to come. As part of our 25th anniversary later this year, we’ll be rolling out new ways to play some of the most iconic games from our past.
As games increasingly span devices, we’re breaking down the barriers between console and PC games for more seamless cross-device play, and we’re making the Xbox experience consistent across screens. This also gives developers a simpler, more unified path to reach more players while helping reduce development costs.
We’re taking everything we’ve learned about building a leading gaming OS and bringing it directly into Windows for both players and developers. After debuting an early version with the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, today I’m excited to share that we are bringing the same innovation to Windows 11 with Xbox mode that begins rolling out in April, starting with select markets. Xbox mode lets players seamlessly switch between productivity and play, with a familiar full screen and controller optimized Xbox experience while embracing the openness of Windows.
Xbox has an incredible lineup of game releases this year, from the return of iconic first-party franchises like Halo and Gears of War, to major titles from our partners across the globe, alongside bold creativity from independent developers like Beethoven & Dinosaur’s Mixtape, or Crimson Desert from Pearl Abyss.
Players should be able to play these games and more across devices, whether through purchases, subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass, or from other leading storefronts. Xbox Play Anywhere allows your games to move with you seamlessly across screens. Your progress carries forward, the time you’ve invested stays with you, and you only need to buy a game once. The Xbox Play Anywhere game catalog has grown to over 1,500 games, and 500 development teams have already shipped games with Xbox Play Anywhere.
This is just the start of the next generation and the next 25 years of Xbox, and we can’t wait to share more later this year. As we listen, learn, and build in partnership with the industry and the community, we’d like to thank you for being part of the journey and making gaming so unique and enduring.