It looks like, for the time being, Microsoft is putting its plans for a first-party Xbox handheld gaming system on hold. Originally planned for a 2027 launch, the handheld system, according to Windows Central, has fallen in the list of priorities for Microsoft when it comes to its gaming business. It is worth noting that this shelved handheld isn’t the one made by Asus, the pictures of which were leaked earlier this month.
Asus’ handheld, internally codenamed Kennan, is still planned for release later this year. Microsoft has seemingly decided to prioritise handhelds made by third-party hardware companies for the time being. These handhelds will still be considered Xbox systems owing to extra button, which will act as the Xbox Guide button we see on modern Xbox controllers.
As for the company’s own handheld, according to the report, it has decided to focus its teams on instead improving the gaming performance for Windows 11 instead. These improvements will likely end up affecting desktop users as well, but the priority seems to be to improve the operating system’s compatibility, performance, and power consumption for handheld systems, like Asus’ Kennan handheld.
The decision by Microsoft likely comes in the wake of Valve recently releasing its Linux-based SteamOS operating system for more handheld systems, essentially boasting compatibility with a wide variety of handhelds, like Lenovo’s Legion Go S. SteamOS has also been reported as offering better gaming performance as well as improved battery life when compared to Windows 11 on the same hardware.
It is also worth noting that, as an operating system, Windows has offered a notoriously sub-par experience for devices that rely heavily on power management, such as gaming laptops and handheld system, for quite some years now. One of the operating system’s key weaknesses – the lack of a consistent way to put the device to sleep mid-game and wake it up to continue playing – has been touted as one of the key strengths of devices like the Steam Deck.
According to Windows Central, the development teams working on improving the gaming experience on Windows 11 will be focusing on overall improvements between the operating system and handheld gaming systems. The improvements born of this maneuver will also likely end up paying dividends for Microsoft for when it ultimately does decide to enter the handheld gaming market with its own device.
As for Kennan, photos of the system were leaked through the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Going by the photos, Kennan is quite likely based on Asus’ own ROG Ally line-up. It does, however, sport an extra button between the left analogue stick and the display, which is likely the Xbox Guide button. The system also seemingly features grips on both sides similar to what we see in standard controllers.
The system is speculated to run on an AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme chip with a TDP of 36 W, and LPDDR5-8533 memory that is likely shared between the main processor and the GPU present on the chip.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has previously acknowledged that Xbox should have its own gaming handheld, but has also noted that such hardware would still be a few years away for the company.
