‘I think we should have a handheld too’, says Xbox boss Phil Spencer

Xbox boss Phil Spencer appears to have all but confirmed speculation that Microsoft is considering launching a handheld gaming device.

In March, Windows Central managing editor Jez Corden claimed Microsoft was working on “fully native Xbox handheld” prototypes.

And in a Polygon interview published a few days later, Microsoft Gaming CEO Spencer discussed what he’d like to see in a potential Xbox handheld

The executive returned to the subject during an IGN interview following Sunday’s Xbox Games Showcase, in which he dropped his biggest hint yet that a handheld could be in the works.

When it was put to Spencer that Xbox has been building its business around the strategy of being where the players are, be that on PC or more recently on other console platforms, he said: “So we should have a handheld? I think we should have a handheld too.”

Asked if he wanted to comment further on the subject, Spencer said: “I don’t want to say anything. I think you’ll have to have Sarah [Bond] on, our president of Xbox, which is awesome. But the future for us in hardware is pretty awesome, and the work that the team is doing around different form factors, different ways to play, I’m incredibly excited about.

“Today was about the games,” Spencer continued. “We showed some of our Gen 9 consoles, Series S and Series X, the work that we’re doing, but we will have a time to come out and talk more about platform, and we can’t wait to bring it to you guys.”

Spencer was then asked whether a hypothetical Xbox handheld would be a dedicated gaming platform or a cloud-based device.

“What I’m finding, I like my ROG Ally, my Lenovo Legion Go, fantastic, my Steam Deck. I think being able to play games locally is really important,” he responded.

On Sunday, Xbox officially announced its long-anticipated digital-only Xbox Series X.

The white, discless 1TB console will be released this holiday season, alongside a white 1TB Xbox Series S and a special edition 2TB ‘Galaxy Black’ Xbox Series X with a disc tray.