Microsoft has announced it will be hosting its first ever Xbox Game Dev Update showcase today. The freshly-announced video stream will introduce the company’s next-gen console: Project Helix. To date, we’ve only had vague updates about what this machine is, first teased back at GDC in March. The debut will take place via a stream on Xbox’s Game Dev Update YouTube channel at 12pm ET/5pm BST. It will be hosted by Chris Charla, general manager of portfolio and programs, and Jason Ronald, VP of next generation.
“Chris and Jason will walk through the details shared at GDC, offering a closer look at Project Helix and what it represents for the future of Xbox,” says a description of the episode, posted over at Microsoft’s game dev blog . “What does Project Helix mean for developers? It’s powered by a custom AMD-based SoC and co-designed for the next-generation of DirectX, as part of our ongoing partnership to shape the future of rendering and simulation. Project Helix will create new opportunities for you to optimize build workflows, improve performance, and iterate more efficiently. Xbox is building for what’s next and we’re inviting you to join us on that journey.”
It looks like this is aimed more at developers and people that will be using Project Helix tech to make their games than it does a consumer-oritented show, but that doensn’t mean there won’t be loads of tasty bytes of info to glean from Charla and Ronald.
But the rollout of Project Helix info itself has been quite odd, anyway. During GDC back in March, Ronald began the conversation-at-large about Project Helix in a talk called “Building for the Future with Xbox”, where the exec affirmed what Microsoft’s newly-appointed gaming CEO Asha Sharma had previously said: the console will be a vessel for both Xbox and PC games. He also noted that dev units would not be going out until 2027.
Prior to this, all we knew about Project Helix came from Asha Sharma, who shared a brief but key update on her social media account simply stating the machine (or machines, I suppose) will “lead in performance”. Cryptic.
This was one of Sharma’s first high-profile acts as the new head of gaming at Microsoft after she took over from Phil Spencer in February this year. Sarah Bond, who many had presumed would eventually succeed Spencer, also announced she would be leaving Xbox at this same time.
Xbox seems to have a new lease of life under Sharma, then – we’ll find out later today if these new announcements can steady the shaky course the platform has been on for the past few years. Maybe, just maybe, the company will make good on that glimmer of hope our own Chris saw in the platform earlier this year.
