One of Xbox's most recent hires, Mathew Ball, who recently took on the role of Chief Strategy Officer, sat down with The Game Business' Chris Dring for a surprisingly open and insightful discussion about all things Xbox. The conversation offered a fresh look at what's happening behind the scenes, how Xbox is feeling about its current position, and where the company sees itself heading in the future.
However, what caught my attention most were Ball's comments on Project Helix, and what they could mean for Xbox's next-generation console. There's actually a lot that was said here, but here's what Ball explained regarding Xbox's current hardware, the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S:
“Today, demand for Xbox consoles is outstripping supply… We are producing them as quickly as possible. These is a severe limitation to how quickly we can do that, but it’s not a question of appetite... that is a prilvege as a company. It is a challenge for us to figure out.”
It's great to see that the Xbox Series X and S are doing so well, and this does line up with comments made by my colleague Jez Corden in the past. However, moving over to what Ball had to say about Project Helix, things get a bit more complicated:
“We are working very hard to rethink everything that we can about Helix, which is a console we are committed to shipping… We are very cognizant of the ways in which we need the change as a company to make sure it is affordable, to make sure that it’s flexible, we are working hard to rethinking what that console model can look like, not in an exclusionary way, but in an additive way, so that as we take a look at this crisis, which may have acute effects for 2-2.5 years.”
As for what we already know about Helix, it's going to be a PC and console hybrid, and we know it'll be positioned as a premium, high-end device. Beyond that, though, it's hard to say exactly what Xbox could be rethinking.
Personally, I'd love to see both Xbox and PlayStation delay their next hardware launches. It's clearly becoming incredibly expensive to produce new hardware right now, and current market conditions mean it's ultimately us, the consumers, who end up paying the price.
As much as I love Xbox, I don't think I'd be willing to fork out more than $1,000 for a next-generation console — but maybe that's just me? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll!
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