Microsoft and Xbox have been hinting at and talking about a native handheld device for quite some time. Phil Spencer has even confirmed it's happening, but that hardware is still a ways away. However we aren't that far off from an Xbox type experience on other handheld devices it seems.
During the ongoing CES conference Jason Ronald, Microsoft VP of Next Generation went on a round table to discuss what their plans are for an operating system on handhelds. The plan includes combining the Xbox and Windows experience on current devices such as the ROG Ally.
"We've been really innovating for a long time in the console space, and as we partner across the industry it's really about how do we bring those innovations that we've incubated and developed in the console space and bring them to PC and bring them to the handheld gaming space."
While many people enjoy their handheld devices as is, many lament the Windows experience on said devices. The OS doesn't really lend itself to handhelds. With combining the Xbox experience with the Windows experience the hope is to create an overall better OS for gaming on handhelds.
Afterwards Ronald spoke with The Verge to further elaborate on what this all means and that we can expect to see it all come to fruition in 2025.
"I would say it's bringing the best of Xbox and Windows together, because we have spent the last 20 years building a world-class operating system, but it's really locked to the console. What we're doing is we're really focused on how do we bring those experiences for both players and developers to the broader Windows ecosystem."
This all leads to some interesting possibilities for the future, including the future of Xbox consoles. With talks that the next Xbox might be more of a pc type experience this could be a look into what that may look like.
