Phil Spencer not too long ago mentioned a possible Xbox handheld and future acquisitions

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer each acknowledged and poured chilly water on persistent rumors about an imminent Xbox handheld announcement throughout a current interview with Bloomberg.

“[E]xpectation is that we’d do one thing,” Spencer mentioned, whereas additionally noting work on such a challenge has but to progress past market analysis and prototyping. “Long run, I like us constructing units. And I believe our crew might do some actual revolutionary work, however we need to be told by studying and what’s occurring now.”

Xbox’s present focus is reportedly on enhancing the Xbox app on present platforms and dealing nearer with {hardware} builders to make sure a greater expertise for customers.

Spencer admitted to being “an enormous fan of handhelds” in a Feb. 2024 dialog with The Verge, and a month later mentioned his philosophy on handheld gaming with Polygon on the Sport Builders Convention, little question contributing to the fervent cottage business of rumormongers that tends to pop up round these types of subjects.

“I need my Lenovo Legion Go to really feel like an Xbox,” Spencer informed Polygon editor-in-chief Chris Plante. “I introduced [the Legion Go] with me to GDC. I’m on the airplane and I’ve this checklist of every part that makes it not really feel like an Xbox. Neglect in regards to the model. Extra like: Are all of my video games there? Do all my video games present up with the save [files] that I need?”

Again to the Bloomberg interview, Spencer mentioned Xbox was open to additional acquisitions, although perhaps not one fairly so huge and arduous as Activision Blizzard, which value just below $69 billion and kicked off a prolonged courtroom case with the Federal Commerce Fee earlier than the corporate was formally introduced into the fold in 2023. He additionally claimed Xbox “has by no means been extra wholesome” since shedding 2,500 staff and closing three studios.

“I really feel fairly good about the place this business goes,” Spencer mentioned earlier than criticizing methods like people who led to Sony’s costly new PlayStation 5 Professional console. “To succeed in new gamers, we must be artistic and adaptive of latest enterprise fashions, new units, new methods of entry. We’re not going to develop the market with $1,000 consoles.”