At the recent Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma made it clear that mass users will not pay thousands of dollars for a new generation of consoles. She also revealed that XBOX will launch an "unprecedented new business model" later this year to cope with the skyrocketing hardware costs and user accessibility challenges.
Sharma pointed out at the meeting that driven by AI demand, the cost of key components such as memory and storage has far exceeded expectations, with some reports saying it has increased by about 2.75 times. This directly pushes up the potential pricing of the next-generation XBOX console (codenamed "Project Helix"), which is expected to reach US$1,000 to US$1,200 (approximately RMB 7,000 to 8,500 yuan). She stressed: "If we don't innovate, it will become expensive. We cannot simply raise prices in the midst of a hardware crisis. This requires fundamental changes in innovation, business models and marketing methods."
Project Helix is positioned as a high-performance console that will "lead in performance" and support interoperability between XBOX and PC games, similar to a high-end gaming PC hybrid in the living room. But Sharma made it clear that XBOX will not ignore the affordability of ordinary players and is actively exploring ways to lower the gaming threshold.
After Sharma took over as Microsoft Game CEO in February 2026, he quickly promoted the "return to XBOX" strategy, emphasizing the combination of console foundation, exclusive content, cloud games and Game Pass. She set the goal to become the "world's No. 1 gaming and entertainment company" by 2030, and used the number of daily active players as the core indicator, rather than pure profit margins. Recent moves include lowering Game Pass pricing, re-evaluating exclusivity strategies, and collaborating with AMD to develop next-generation hardware.
There is widespread speculation that the new business model may involve strengthening xCloud cloud streaming, launching low-cost dedicated streaming devices, subscription financing similar to mobile phone contracts (such as upgraded XBOX All Access) or a "hardware as a service" model.
The gaming hardware industry is currently facing pressure from a global component shortage. The AI boom has led to a surge in demand for high-end memory, affecting the entire industry. Sharma said this is both a challenge and an opportunity. The specific release time and final pricing of Project Helix have not yet been announced, with developer Alpha hardware scheduled to begin delivery in 2027. "We are creating the next era of affordability, personalization and openness," Sharma concluded. More details will be announced later this year.