From GDC: Building the Next Generation of Xbox – Xbox Wire

This is a summary of my Xbox Developer Summit keynote address, delivered March 11 at the 2026 Game Developer Conference

The characters, worlds, and stories from developers from across the world have shaped every stage of Xbox’s evolution, what’s possible and where we go next. As we celebrate 25 years of Xbox this year, I want to give a special thank you to the developers, past and present, who have helped define Xbox’s legacy, including the more than 5,000 developers around the world currently building for Xbox.

We’re continuing to push innovation for our next 25 years with our team hard at work on our next-generation first-party console: 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.

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.