Xbox drops new console teaser for Microsoft 50th anniversary

Microsoft just dished some new info about their second worst-kept secret (just behind the PS5 port of Starfield); a new piece of Xbox hardware is on its way, and it might be here sooner than we think.

Microsoft turned 50 years old this month, so they’ve decided to tease their next big project to celebrate the milestone.

CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer was interviewed by iJustine a couple of days ago, and he decided to drop a pretty huge teaser for the long-rumoured Xbox handheld during their talk.

During the interview, iJustine asked Spencer if there’s “anything exciting” we can expect out of Xbox in 2025 (thank you in advance to Pure Xbox's Fraser Gilbert for the source).

“We've teased and talked about handhelds and I'm very excited because we both travel, and sometimes you can't always take your console or your whole gaming desktop with you,” Spencer replied.

“But it's really about building the experience around the person, and that's what really gets me excited. [Xbox] isn't one single device at the centre, it's not one game, it is the player - making sure all of your games are available, all of your save games, all of your entitlements are available wherever you go.”

The real story here isn’t so much that an Xbox handheld exists, because Microsoft hasn’t exactly been shy about hiding its existence, but rather that Spencer was directly asked what Microsoft’s plans are for “this year”.

I think most of us were working under the assumption that an Xbox handheld was more of a 2026 plan, but Spencer’s reply more than implies that we could get our hands on it sometime before the end of the year.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, as a handheld competitor could spell trouble for the Nintendo Switch 2 (given how poor the public opinion is regarding it at the moment).