Next Xbox release date: Project Helix reaches developers in 2027, no price yet

Microsoft has not announced a release date or a price for Project Helix, the next-generation Xbox. What Xbox has confirmed is the plan: a console built on a custom AMD chip, designed to play Xbox console games and PC games, with alpha hardware going to game developers starting in 2027. Until Helix arrives, the Xbox Series X and Series S remain the consoles Microsoft sells, and the newest one, the translucent green Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition, comes out on Nov. 13 for $899.99.

Project Helix release date

1. Mar 11, 2026Xbox introduces Project Helix at its GDC keynote; alpha hardware for developers from 2027
2. Apr 23, 2026Xbox names delivering Helix one of its hardware priorities
3. Jun 10, 2026Xbox describes a hardware component crisis and says it remains committed to Helix
4. Jul 6, 2026Xbox announces a restructure and says it will return to growth in 2027
5. Nov 13, 2026Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition launches at $899.99
6. Nov 15, 2026Xbox turns 25
7. 2027Alpha versions of Project Helix hardware ship to developers

The only official date tied to Helix is 2027, and it is for developers, not players. At its Xbox Developer Summit keynote at the Game Developers Conference on March 11, 2026, Xbox said it plans to ship alpha versions of the hardware to developers beginning in 2027. Alpha kits let studios start building games for the new console. Microsoft has not said when the console itself goes on sale.

Xbox also promised to “share more later this year.” As of mid-October, it has not published new details on Helix.

Project Helix price

Microsoft has not announced a price. What Xbox has said about costs points up, not down. In a June 10 post titled “Next 100 Days: XBOX Reset,” Xbox’s leadership wrote that the price it paid for console storage components was more than twice as high as the previous fall, that those costs had doubled again, and that for the 2027 holiday season it expects another significant increase, over 5x what it paid two years earlier. Memory costs, it said, followed a similar path.

Today’s consoles show where prices stand. Xbox’s US store lists:

What Project Helix can do

Xbox calls Helix its next-generation first-party console, designed to play your Xbox console and PC games. It is powered by a custom AMD system-on-chip, co-designed for the next generation of DirectX and FSR, AMD’s upscaling technology, with Xbox using FSR Next. Xbox says Helix delivers “an order of magnitude leap in ray tracing performance and capability” and builds intelligence directly into the graphics and compute pipeline.

Two more promises from the same keynote matter for anyone with a game library. Xbox is committed to keeping games from four generations of Xbox playable for years to come, and Xbox Play Anywhere, which lets you buy a game once for console and PC, already covers more than 1,500 games. Xbox has not published specs such as memory, storage or a GPU figure for Helix.

Why Xbox is talking about a crisis

Helix is coming in a hard year for Xbox hardware. In June, Xbox’s leadership wrote that it is “currently unable to make as many consoles as players want to buy” and needs a new business model and partnerships for hardware, while it remains committed to Helix. On July 6, CEO Asha Sharma told employees the industry faces “the most severe hardware crisis in its history” and announced the biggest restructure in Xbox’s history: about 3,200 fewer roles through fiscal 2027, four studios moving to new management, and a new chief operating officer. She also wrote that Xbox will return to growth in 2027.

The Xbox you can buy this year: Series X25

For its 25th anniversary, Xbox is releasing the Xbox Series X25 Limited Edition, a Series X with 1 TB of storage in a translucent OG Green shell inspired by the original 2001 Xbox. The “X” lights up green at startup, each console is individually numbered with a unique engraving, and every unit includes a full-game download of Halo: Campaign Evolved.

It launches on Nov. 13, 2026, at $899.99, while supplies last and one per customer. A matching Xbox Wireless Controller X25 Special Edition is sold separately and launches on Oct. 20. Xbox celebrates its 25th birthday on Nov. 15, with a FanFest at MoPOP in Seattle on Nov. 12.

What to play on Xbox now

The current consoles still get the biggest games of the fall: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Oct. 23 and GTA 6 on Nov. 19, which runs on both Xbox Series X and Series S. The full list is in our November 2026 release calendar.

This page is updated as soon as Microsoft announces a release date, price or new details for Project Helix.